Darkness Eternal
by RamblingFox2501
Summary: What if the power Sasuke Uchiha wanted the whole time...wanted him?  If he isn't careful, he will succumb to...The Darkness.
1. Chapter 1:  The Desire for Power

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kishimoto-san's "Naruto" or Top Cow's "The Darkness".**

**This is my first fan fiction, so please go easy on me.**

**Thanks to Firespin98 for helping me format this.**

**Rated M for graphic violence and some language. Reader discression is advised.**

**Text guide part 1:**

**Regular speech: **"Talking."

**Thought speech: **_Thinking._

**Flashback speech**: _"Remember when…?"_

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><p>Chapter 1: The Desire for Power<p>

Everything was happening too fast for Sasuke Uchiha.

When he awoke from the Mangekyo Sharingan induced slumber that Itachi forced upon him, he felt no better than the last time he was awake. For him, 48 hours of reliving that horrible night seemed like an eternity. He didn't know how long he was out, nor did he care.

After all his years of training, he was still weak compared to his brother. He said he didn't have enough hatred. How could that be, when Sasuke's hatred knew no bounds?

Earlier that day, shortly after he woke up, he challenged Naruto to a fight. He was so close to defeating him when Kakashi stopped their fight.

"_Sasuke,"_ Kakashi, both surprised and angry, said to him, _"What do you think you're doing? That Chidori wasn't the size you'd aim at a friend from the village. Are you actually trying to _kill_ Naruto?"_

He may have at the time, but he wasn't really thinking about it. All he really remembered at the moment was his shock of how strong Naruto had become. If he couldn't even beat a hopeless loser like him, then how was he ever going to stand up against Itachi?

Later, he was ambushed by four Sound Ninja. They claimed that their master, Orochimaru, would give him the power he so desired. He could either go with them tonight, or stay at the Leaf and remain anchored by the bonds of his friends.

His bonds… those were what made him weak. It was the bonds with his friends that held him back from gaining power. He felt stupid for not realizing this earlier. The four ninja had said that Orochimaru would give him more power. He gave Sasuke the curse mark as an offering of power in the Forest of Death. True, it did give Sasuke more power, but if the snake-man wanted to give him more, then what was the catch?

Remembering the moment when he locked eyes with Itachi Uchiha again, he no longer cared.

Sasuke was in his room now, packing what he may need for the trip. Extra clothes, shuriken, and kunai, a snack, some ryo*****, and… what else? He walked over to his dresser by the window. Standing upright was a group photo of him, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi. He picked it up and stared at it long and hard.

He remembered taking that photo shortly after the group became Team 7. Sakura and Kakashi smiling (behind his mask, he assumed he was smiling), while he and Naruto were annoyed by their sensei messing with their hair like they were little kids. He set it back facedown, feeling sick at the nostalgia that came to haunt him. He opened the top drawer and took out a photo that he kept hidden.

It was an old picture of Sasuke and his parents, months before the Uchiha massacre. He found it on the floor of his parents' room the day after the massacre. Part of the photo was ripped off: the area where Itachi would have been standing next to his little brother. Sasuke didn't rip it out (though he probably would have); it was like that when he found it. As the only memory of the good years of his life, he took it with him.

With everything now packed, he walked to the door and opened it. He took one final look at his room before turning the lights out and exiting. For him, a new chapter of his life was just beginning… all he had to do was sever the bonds that held him back.

* * *

><p>It was close to midnight when Sasuke left through the gates of the Leaf Village. He had encountered Sakura earlier, but he had to leave as soon as possible. She wanted him to stay, she tried to convince him to forget about his quest for revenge, but he knew she wouldn't understand. He knew she deeply cared about him, yet that was just another bond he had to sever.<p>

"_Sakura… thank you…"_ He said to her before knocking her out. His words were sincere; he was thanking her for everything she did up to this point. After that, he planned to never see or speak to her again.

Some yards outside of the gates, the Sound Ninja Four were waiting for him. There were no surprised looks on their faces, as if they knew all along that Sasuke would come with them. The ninja with two heads, Sakon, stepped forward and said to him, "Sasuke sir, we've been waiting for you."

Sasuke was confused at the sudden change in attitude. Earlier, they were treating him like dirt. Now, at least Sakon seems to be treating him with more respect than he expected. After voicing that thought, Sakon replied, "The moment you left the village, you became our boss. That was always the plan, so please pardon our earlier conduct."

Sasuke wasn't particularly fond of being called "boss", so he just said, "Yeah, fine. Let's just get on with it." He looked towards the waning crescent moon and thought to himself, _And so it begins._

* * *

><p><strong>*= In case you didn't know, ryo is the currency in the Naruto universe.<strong>

**The first chapter is done! Next time, I will introduce the Darkness, but it won't make its grand entrance until later. How will Sasuke react to the Darkness? It should be no surprise to those who have read the Naruto manga and/or seen the anime. Nevertheless! Read on to find out!**

**Note: Yes, I did use some lines from the manga, but that was to make the story more believable. Once more, all Naruto credit goes to Kishimoto-san.**


	2. Chapter 2:  Visitor from the Darkness

**Once again, I do not own "Naruto" or "The Darkness". They belong to Kishimoto-san and Top Cow respectively.**

**No gore or language yet, but please be aware that there will be later in the fan fiction.**

**Text guide part 2:**

**Darkness speaking: **_**"There will be blood…"**_

**Darkness speaking mentally: …eventually.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: Visitor from the Darkness<p>

Sasuke and the Sound Ninja Four have been moving almost nonstop since their departure. It was close to noon when they finally did stop. The area they were in was a small clearing in the middle of a forest.

"Sasuke, sir," Sakon spoke, "here should do; we're already outside of the Leaf."

Sasuke immediately became suspicious. Was he lured into a trap? He asked, "Do? For what?"

"It's just that Lord Orochimaru gave us a task," Sakon explained, "something critical."

The young ninja did not like being given cryptic answers. "And I'm asking you what it is."

Sakon paused before saying, "You must die… just this once."

Sasuke's eyes widened. Were they planning to kill him? If so, then why? However, he was equally confused as surprised. "I must die… once?"

The two-headed Sound ninja took out some black round pills in a bottle and explained everything to him.

Sasuke's curse mark was only in its first stage. Taking the pills would move it up to second stage, but the side effects would kill him. However, the four ninja can diminish the effects with their barrier ninjutsu so that Sasuke would only be in suspended animation for a short time instead of dying.

Sasuke's suspicions slowly diminished, yet he had to wonder if their jutsu was trustworthy. As he took one of the pills in his hand, he thought, _No, I can't die yet_, before swallowing it. For him, as long as he had the power to kill Itachi, he would be satisfied.

The pill's effects took place immediately. He dropped to his knees and clenched his throat. His lungs and heart felt like they were on fire. He felt his strength wane to the point where he was about to pass out. He heard Sakon shouting something to the others, but he didn't pay attention to what he was saying. He gasped for air, but he felt like his lungs were no longer working. With his other hand, he clenched his chest, and he could feel his heart trying to beat, despite the excruciating pain. Then, all sensation was lost and he passed out.

* * *

><p>Sasuke didn't know where he was at, but it was pitch black and freezing cold. If it weren't for the complete darkness, he would have been able to see his breath. Wherever he was, he felt like he was being watched.<p>

Then, from the darkness, he saw a small pair of yellow eyes staring at him, then two large pairs of red eyes. He could faintly make out an outline of a person with snakes protruding from its shoulders and black tendrils from its back. This person, whoever he was, was giving off bad vibes. Sasuke could sense that he was one of the most bloodthirsty beings he had ever encountered, if not _the_ most bloodthirsty.

"Who are you?" He managed to ask. "_What_ are you?"

It spoke in a mixed voice. On one hand, it sounded a monster hissing and snarling at the same time, which made Sasuke feel uneasy. On the other, it sounded very familiar to him.

_**"'I understand now: I am an avenger. On the path I walk, I have to do whatever it takes to gain power, even if it means selling my flesh to the devil.' It wasn't that long ago when you said those words, Sasuke Uchiha."**_

Sasuke gaped at the figure. Was this thing supposed to be the devil? He did mean it when he said those words in the Forest of Death, but he never actually expected to meet the devil. He slowly asked, "You're… the devil?"

_**"No, Sasuke, I am much more than that. I am the power you have long sought for."**_

"I'm getting my power from Orochimaru."

_**"Yes, but that snake can't give you everything. You **_**need**_** me, Sasuke. I wouldn't be here if I knew you weren't going to accept me."**_

"And how is it you know that I want you?"

_**"Because I accepted the Darkness when it came to me."**_

"The Darkness?" The bad vibes were only getting worse. "Are you saying…?"

_**"**_**I**_** am the Darkness…and I am **_**you**_**, Sasuke."**_

Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing. Just what _was_ this thing that claimed to be him? That explained why it sounded so familiar, but then again, it could just be using a genjutsu to trick him.

_**"I came to you because you wanted me."**_ The Darkness went on. _**"I came because you want the power to kill Itachi. I know this because I **_**am**_** you."**_

Sasuke lowered his head, "I don't believe that you're me, but I do want power." He lifted his head to stare at the thing in the eyes. "What's your catch?"

_**"I take your body as my host. You will have me inside you, but you will not be able to use me until your sixteenth birthday. When you do come of age, my power will be yours to command."**_

This thing was starting to sound a little like Orochimaru now. Still, he had to ask, "Why do I have to wait that long? I want that power now."

_**"I'm giving you a generous offer, Sasuke. Normally, you would have to wait until you turned twenty-one before you could use me. For you, I will make a special exception."**_

"Normally? You mean others have wielded you before?"

The twin snake heads nodded. Sasuke then asked, "Then why are you here? What happened to the previous wielders?"

_**"They died, and they are suffering a fate worse than death."**_

Sasuke did not inquire what fate the previous wielders had, but he had a feeling that he will suffer the same fate if he accepted this dark being. Still, he said that he would not die until he killed Itachi, and he wanted all the power he can get. One last thing he asked was, "What kind of power are we talking about?"

_**"The power to do **_**anything**_**."**_

That sounded promising enough. Sasuke gave his answer, "Then I accept your offer."

The Darkness extended a hand towards him, which Sasuke took. The form of the Darkness slowly faded away, leaving the young ninja's hand to grasp the air. He could feel an icy presence shoot up his arm and settle in the depths of his heart.

_**You were wise to accept me. When you turn sixteen, you will have power beyond your wildest dreams. When that time comes, you will pay the ultimate price.**_

* * *

><p>The next thing he knew, Sasuke was standing at the edge of a grassy meadow. An overwhelming sense of power overcame him. He looked at his hands and saw that they were trembling. Was it excitement… or something else? He also felt the curse mark on his neck throb, but it gradually subsided. He had to wonder if his encounter with the Darkness was just a dream. If not, then when he turned sixteen, he will have the ultimate power… but for an unspecified price.<p>

Close by, he thought he could hear Naruto calling out to him. What was that idiot doing here? He was probably trying to talk him into coming back to the Leaf Village. He ignored his old friend's callings and stared straight ahead into the forest. The sensation of power was too much for him. He chuckled darkly to himself. If the power of the curse mark felt like this, then how would it feel when he acquired the powers of the Darkness?

Not wanting to waste any more time, he ran straight ahead, towards his destination.

* * *

><p><strong>Another chapter done. There will be a two and half year time skip in the next chapter. Next time, the Darkness finally emerges. How will everyone around Sasuke react to this? What price will Sasuke have to pay? It should come to no surprise to those who are familiar with The Darkness comics and video game.<strong>

**October is a busy month for me, so please be patient. I will update the story as soon as I get the spare time to do so. Until then, I hope you are enjoying this so far. **


	3. Chapter 3:  The Awakening

**As usual, I do not own Kishimoto-san's "Naruto" or Top Cow's "The Darkness".**

**Blood and gore for the first time here, so reader discression is advised again.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: The Awakening<p>

Sasuke was dog-tired when he was done with today's training. He spent the entire day trying to improve his Chidori Stream technique. It was one thing to channel Lightning chakra to his arm, it was another to channel it throughout his whole body. Should he ever be surrounded, this jutsu will shock everyone in close proximity to him, that is, if he can master it.

He was accompanied by Orochimaru in the maze-like hallways of the hideout. Seeing that he was short of breath, his sensei said to him, "You don't need to push yourself too hard, Sasuke."

"Don't even start that." Sasuke did not want another lecture on how he should take breaks now and then.

Ever since he was first accepted as Orochimaru's protégé, Sasuke had been training himself hard. He had learned many things in the past two and a half years, like how to summon snakes and how to effectively use a sword in combat. Just a year ago, he was finally acknowledged enough to have his own Kusanagi Sword. With his goal in mind, Sasuke always pushed himself beyond his limits.

Eventually, Sasuke parted ways with his sensei and went back to his room. It was small with only a simple bed, a little dresser with a single drawer, and a candle and a box of matches that sat on top of it. There were dozens of rooms that looked the same and the majority of them were empty. The purpose of the many empty rooms was to disorient any and all possible intruders. Sasuke had to carry a small map with him just in case he misremembered the turns he had to take to get to certain rooms. The only way to know for sure that this was his room was to check the single drawer in the dresser to see if his belongings were there.

After lighting the candle, he checked the drawer, and yes, his things were in there, including his old knapsack, some clothes, and the torn Uchiha family photo. He closed it and sat down on the bed. Fatigue overpowered him and he couldn't help but lay down on the bed. He hadn't eaten in a while, but he was too tired to care. He rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling.

He remembered that tomorrow was going to be his sixteenth birthday. He was never the type to celebrate his birthdays, not since that night anyways. Back when he was still a member of Team 7, his teammates wanted to throw a party for him, but he was strongly against it. Instead, he got various gifts from his fellow shinobi.

Sakura gave him a box of chocolates (which he threw away shortly after, since he hated sweets), Ino gave him roses, Lee gave him training weights, Kakashi gave him a basket of fruit (_"You really need to eat some more fruit, Sasuke. You can't eat out all the time."_), and Naruto, not knowing what else to give him, gave him some extra shuriken.

Since leaving the Leaf, Sasuke insisted to everyone in the Sound to never bring up his birthday. Henceforth, Sasuke's birthdays were completely ignored by everyone. However, on this particular night, the one before his sixteenth birthday, he thought back to the words of the Darkness.

All this waiting, and was he actually going to get all this power tomorrow? Tomorrow, he will know for sure if the Darkness's words were true, or if it was all just a dream. If he doesn't get the power tomorrow, then he would just have to continue to train hard to hone his own abilities. If he _does_ get it, then he will be strong enough to kill Itachi. Tired, Sasuke blew out the candle and rested his head back on his pillow. With the room completely devoid of light, he shut his eyes and immediately fell asleep.

Tomorrow was just around the corner, and when it comes, he will know for sure if he will gain the powers of the Darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>Sasuke…<strong>

Sasuke's eyes snapped open. He suddenly felt very sick. He tried to get out of bed, but instead, he rolled off, knocking over the dresser in the process. He rolled on his hands and knees and lowered his head. He felt like his insides were on fire. He felt worse than the time he had to take those pills for his curse mark to reach the second level. He wanted to vomit, but only saliva dripped out of his gaping mouth.

**It's time, Sasuke…**

Sasuke's heart felt like it just exploded. He hollered in pain as he felt his shoulders and back rip open. He tried to stand, but he only managed to collapse. His whole body shook violently as he finally did vomit. He heard his door open a crack and he saw a humanoid shadow in the dim light of the hallway's candlelight.

"Sasuke!" A Sound ninja's voice could be heard. "What-?"

Before he could finish his sentence, a black tendril shot out of Sasuke's back and impaled the ninja's throat. While it dragged the gargling victim's throat, another tendril emerged and slammed the door shut, not wanting to let any light, not even candlelight, into the room.

Two snakes with red eyes emerged halfway out of Sasuke's shoulders and lunged at the Sound ninja's chest. Sasuke couldn't see what was happening, but he could hear the sounds of flesh being sliced and blood splattering. As he sat halfway up, his eyes could make out shapes in the room and somehow, he was able to see what was happening.

The two tendrils had sliced the poor ninja clean in half lengthwise and the snake heads were fighting over the man's heart. They played tug-o-war over it until the left head was able to snatch it and swallow it whole. Blood was splattered all over the room and it started pooling on the floor. The snake heads looked at Sasuke as the tendrils slowly withdrew into his back.

**I said I would give you the power to do anything, didn't I?**

The voice that echoed in Sasuke's head was definitely the Darkness. A sick cackling filled his head as he retched once more before the gruesome mess of what used to be a man. _This… is the Darkness!_ Sasuke couldn't help but think to himself.

"Sasuke!"

The door was flung wide open. Kabuto, with a bright lantern in his hand, peered into the room. The twin snakes hissed in pain at the presence of light and retreated back into their host within in a fraction of a second. Kabuto stared at Sasuke, then at the torn corpse on the floor. He was shaking so badly that he was close to letting the lantern slip from his grasp. He staggered backwards and bumped into someone behind him.

"Move aside, Kabuto." Orochimaru commanded.

When his assistant didn't respond, the sannin pushed past him and saw the gruesome slaughter with his own eyes. There was surprise in his eyes, but he was not shocked like Kabuto was. He turned to his pupil and asked, "Sasuke, what happened here?"

Sasuke had a lot to say, but he didn't know where to start. He had never told anyone about his conversation with the Darkness two and half years ago. What would Orochimaru think if he brought it up now? Before he could say something, weakness suddenly overcame him and he fell forward.

Kabuto ran to his side and flipped him on his back. When he saw that his eyes were shut, he immediately put two of his fingers to the side of Sasuke's neck. He let out a small sigh of relief as he felt a pulse beat against his fingertips. Sasuke had just fainted, though he didn't know if it was from shock or exhaustion.

Still, after what he just saw, he knew he had to run some tests on him.

* * *

><p>Hours had passed, and Orochimaru was tired of waiting. He was just outside of his hideout, watching the sun rise from the horizon. He thought back to what had happened earlier. From his first assumptions, he figured that Sasuke had killed that Sound ninja for some unknown reason. What bothered him was the way he killed him. Orochimaru was no stranger to gruesome, over-the-top deaths, but he never expected his own pupil to kill someone in such a fashion.<p>

He had grilled Kabuto for details, but what description he gave him didn't add up to anything.

_"There were black snakes and tentacles coming out of his shoulders and back." _Kabuto had said.

_"These…'tentacles' do sound odd," Orochimaru_ had replied, _"but snake-summoning isn't something new to Sasuke."_

_"My lord, these looked nothing like your snakes. They looked… demonic."_ The assistant shuddered at the memory. _"And Sasuke… his eyes were glowing yellow."_

_"Yellow?"_

_"They were, at least for a brief few seconds. When I opened the door, they all retreated behind Sasuke. I think… they went _inside_ him, my lord."_

Soon after that, Kabuto had taken both Sasuke and the corpse for examination. Orochimaru had been waiting for hours to hear back from his assistant, and he was getting fed up with it. Without a word or sigh of frustration, he turned around and went back into the candlelit maze that made up his hideout.

On his way to the medical ward, Orochimaru ran many possibilities through his head. Could it be a new jutsu? Is his future host possessed by a demon? Was this a secret that Sasuke had been hiding from him all this time? Is this power something that he can control once he takes Sasuke's body?

His eyes widened with excitement. It was an exciting possibility to gain another power from taking the young Uchiha's body, yet he needed to know more about it first. He wanted to ask Sasuke about, maybe even see it in action.

He would have to wait until Sasuke wakes up to find out.

* * *

><p><strong>Three chapters down, an unknown number to go. Now that Sasuke has the Darkness, just what can he possibly achieve with it (other than killing Itachi, of course)? Next time, Sasuke tries out his powers for the first time. Be on the lookout for chapter 4!<strong>

**Just so you know, I'm going to try to make my chapters longer, which, unfortunately, means that you are all going to have to wait a little longer for another chapter. Sorry!**


	4. Chapter 4:  Endless Potential

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kishimoto-san's "Naruto" or Top Cow's "The Darkness". Need I say it again?**

**In this chapter, I am introducing the (in?)famous Darklings!**

**This time around, I will now be using language.**

**Text Guide 3:**

**Darkling speaking: "Woo! We're finally here!"**

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: Endless Potential<p>

_Dear Shuichi,_

_How are you and Hanyuu doing? Are you two still together? As for how I'm doing, well, let's just say times are tough for me. I can imagine that the whole family is still mad at me for leaving. Still, when you're viewed as a weapon and not a person, you eventually come to see all the evils in the world._

_So that no one will find me, I will not reveal my location and I will continue sending you these letters through the shadows. Reply on this scroll and leave it in the spot where you found it so that I can retrieve it the next night. Don't try to look for me then, for you will not actually find me. Take care of yourself, Shuichi._

_Close, yet far away,_

_Kazunori_

* * *

><p>Sasuke opened his eyes slowly. He saw that he was on a bed with thin sheets covering him. The room was dark and was only lit up by the backlights of the nearby computer monitors<strong>*<strong>. Upon seeing these monitors, he figured that he was in the medical ward. He now saw that he was hooked up to an IV Drip and a heart rate monitor, whose constant beepings were already starting to annoy him.

Sasuke sat up and tried to remember what had just happened. He remembered snakes and tendrils erupting from within his very being. _Oh yeah, the Darkness_, he thought to himself. After that, he thought he had a nightmare, but he wasn't so sure. He tried to retrieve the dream from his memory, but it had already escaped from his mind. Then, from outside the room, he heard voices talking to each other.

"How is he, Kabuto?" He heard Orochimaru ask.

"You got me." Kabuto answered. "Physically, other than being exhausted, he's fine. There are no traces of scars where those snakes and tentacles came out of him, but there are also no seals indicating that he has a demon inside of him. Sadly, even with my medical expertise, I am forced to say that I have no clue what is wrong with him."

"And what about the ninja that was ripped in half?"

"Well, I managed to identify him as Shijiri Iori, one of our patrol jonin. His heart is missing and, obviously, he has been split clean in half. However, what fascinates me is that not only has his flesh been ripped in half, but also his spine and skull have been cleaved cleanly in the middle. To cut even bone in half without much effort… Sasuke has some serious power, whatever it may be."

Sasuke remembered the ninja who tried to check on him during the Darkness's emergence. Before he could even realize what was going on, the tendrils had mercilessly sliced him in half and the snakes devoured his heart. Sasuke didn't think much of the ninja who was killed; he only saw him as an unfortunate individual who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A nearby door opened up and both Kabuto and Orochimaru stepped in, and both saw that Sasuke was awake. Kabuto walked towards Sasuke and took out a small flashlight from his pocket. As he proceeded to check his eyes, Kabuto asked him, "How are you feeling?"

The light irritated the young ninja's eyes. He answered sarcastically, "Great, just great."

After seeing that his pupils reacted normally to the light, Kabuto turned it off and put it back in his pocket. He said to Sasuke, "I did several tests on you and…" He hesitated.

"And what?"

"…and there seems to be nothing wrong with you. As far as my own opinion goes-."

Orochimaru cut him off, "Is there something that you're not telling me, Sasuke?"

Sasuke lowered his head, lost in thought. Just as it said, the Darkness came to him, but he did not expect it to emerge from his body in such a violent manner. Still, now that he had it, what _could_ he do with it?

**Didn't we say, Sasuke? Anything you want, Sasuke.**

Sasuke pulled off the wires that were on his chest and the IV drip out of his arm. He got out of bed and walked past Kabuto and Orochimaru. Just as he put his hand on the handle, he heard his mentor ask, "Where are you going?"

"Training." Sasuke answered before leaving the room.

* * *

><p>Every one of Orochimaru's hideouts had a large underground training arena where Sasuke and other ninja could train. The room had two floors: the bottom where training takes place, and the upper balcony where Orochimaru would sometimes watch. After switching the lights on, Sasuke positioned himself in the middle of the arena.<p>

Since the Darkness offered him power, he knew he should be able to use it on his own. The question was how. Should he channel that power from within, just like with chakra? He gave that a try, but nothing happened. He focused harder, but still, nothing happened.

"Damn it!" Sasuke swore under his breath. "Why won't you work?"

**Hm, now why do you think I'm called the **_**Darkness**_**?**

Sasuke thought for a moment. He remembered that the Darkness seemed to react violently against the light early this morning. When the door was opened, a little light shone through and one of the tendrils slammed the door shut. When Kabuto entered his room, he carried a bright lantern in his hand, which forced the Darkness back inside its host. Sasuke looked up at the lights, then at the light switch.

_So even the Darkness has a weakness, _Sasuke thought to himself as he walked towards the switch and flicked it off.

The room became pitch black, though Sasuke could see perfectly fine in the darkness. In the far left corner of the room, he saw a small pair of glowing yellow eyes. He saw that it was an imp with sharp, yellow teeth that wore a white tiger skin loincloth around its waist. It leaned against the wall and did nothing but grin wickedly at Sasuke. He called out to it, "What are you?"

The imp scampered towards him on its hands and feet. It stopped just short in front of him and said in a cracked voice, **"I'm one of your Darklings, boss, and I'm yours to command."**

"Darklings?" He asked.

**"Yeah!"** It nodded enthusiastically. **"I'm one of your minions! I know that you're here to practice using the Darkness, so I came to help."**

"You work for the Darkness?"

**"But of **_**course**_**! I serve the Darkness and its wielder (that's you, boss). With the Darkness, you can summon us," **its voice rose as it became more excited, **"wear this cool body armor, rip out hearts with tentacles, and so much more!"**

**"In truth," **a voice as rough as sandpaper spoke up, **"you can do **_**anything**_**."**

Another imp pulled itself out of the floor and stood up right next to the first one. It wore a torn monk's robe and glasses that were identical to Kabuto's. It said to Sasuke, **"In fact, your power is only limited by your imagination."**

Sasuke said nothing. Instead, he focused on summoning the Darkness once more. This time around, a black fog surrounded him. This did not look like the Darkness from this morning. He decided that he should start out by imagining the snakes from last time. The fog vanished and the snakes erupted out of his shoulders, but without any pain this time. In fact, he didn't even have to concentrate that hard, if at all, to summon them forth. The twin snakes turned their heads to look at their master, and they hissed with what sounded like satisfaction.

**"C'mon boss!" **The first Darkling urged. **"You can do more than that! Just let it all out!"**

So Sasuke did just that.

* * *

><p>From the upper balcony, Orochimaru watched his protégé experiment with the Darkness. He carried a small candle with him, which neither Sasuke nor the Darklings seemed to notice. He watched his pupil summon the demonic snakes that Kabuto mentioned to him earlier, and from there, something unbelievable happened.<p>

Without warning, black vines shot out from underneath Sasuke's feet and covered the whole floor. They climbed up the walls like hyperactive kudzu as they wove themselves around each other. They shot up to the ceiling and threaded themselves in and out of it. In the gaps of the vines, many pairs of yellow and red eyes glowed in the darkness. One by one, Darklings and other monstrosities crawled out of the gaps and scampered all over the floor, walls, and ceiling. The whole room, save for the spot that Orochimaru was standing on, was completely covered by the Darkness.

The sannin's eyes widened with excitement once more. He had never seen such a display of power like that before, and Sasuke showed it off like it was nothing. In Sasuke's hands, he could easily kill Itachi. If Orochimaru were to possess it, he could do so much more. He licked his lips with anticipation: he wanted Sasuke even more now.

"Orochimaru."

He turned around and saw Sasuke standing before him. In the presence of the candlelight, the yellow glow behind the ninja's eyes vanished, as well as any nearby traces of the Darkness. Sasuke said, "From this point on, no light enters this room."

After getting his point across, Sasuke stepped forward and blew out the candle in Orochimaru's hand, leaving the room in complete darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>*= <strong>"What! Why are there computers in the Naruto universe?" **There **_**are**_** computers in the Naruto universe, and, of course, electricity to go with it (see "Naruto": Volume 22, Kimimaro was hooked up to medical machines and Kabuto was watching the prisoners fight each other via computer/security camera.)**

**Four chapters, and already Sasuke is getting a grasp on the powers of the Darkness. **"Why aren't the Darklings cracking jokes at each other?"** I've only just introduced the Darklings, so give me some slack.**

**What is this mysterious letter at the beginning? How is it related to the story? It will all be explained…eventually. **

**Next time, on "Darkness Eternal", weeks pass and Sasuke meets some friends, both old and new (no surprise to those who have read the manga), and he is not happy seeing them.**

**Like the story? Think it's lacking something? Have any ideas on Darkness powers that Sasuke could use? Just click on the review button at the bottom and tell me what you think. Just don't flame me; this is my first fan fiction after all. **


	5. Chapter 5:  An Unexpected Reunion

**I wish I could say that I own "Naruto" and "The Darkness", but I don't; they belong to Kishimoto-san and Top Cow, respectively.**

**Is anyone looking forward to "The Darkness II", because I am.**

**Text Guide 4:**

**Biju speaking: "WHY DO I GET ALL CAPS?"**

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: An Unexpected Reunion<p>

A few weeks have passed, and Sasuke was already getting the hang of his new powers, and finding new ways to use it. He found out that he could protect his body using armor made completely out of Darkness, and it was lightweight enough that it didn't hinder his movements. He also found that he could make a variety of weapons out of the Darkness, so as long as he was under the cover of darkness, he could have an endless supply of shadow shuriken, kunai, and other such special-made ninja tools.

As for the Darklings, he did not use them that often. True, they could outnumber his opponents a hundred times over, but he did not like it when they cracked jokes all the time.

_"Grow up." _He told them some time ago.

From there, they started whispering amongst themselves.

_**"Uh oh, the boss doesn't have a sense of humor."**_

_**"Boss is a real killjoy…"**_

_**"What's the boss's problem?"**_

_"And another thing," _he added, _"stop calling me 'boss', it's getting annoying."_

_**"Whaaaaaaaaat? Boss doesn't want to be called 'boss'?"**_

_**"Then what are we supposed to call you: Sasuke-sama? Sasuke-dono? Yami no kami?*"**_

_"Just 'Sasuke'."_

Since then, the Darklings became more serious, though they would occasionally crack a joke behind their master's back. As for the Darkness itself, it had not spoken to Sasuke since that day in the training arena. Unlike the Darklings, the Darkness only spoke whenever it felt like it was necessary.

However, as much as Sasuke became accustomed to the Darkness, he still spent time improving his jutsu. If he were to ever engage in battle in daylight, then he would have to rely on his own techniques to survive. Slowly but surely, Sasuke was becoming stronger.

And as his own time was starting to run out, Orochimaru watched him every step of the way.

* * *

><p>Sasuke sat at the base of a giant snake statue, waiting impatiently for Orochimaru to return. He said he would help him out with a jutsu, and he had been late for about an hour now. Finally, he heard footsteps enter the room. However, instead of two pairs of footsteps, there were three. He opened his eyes and saw that in addition to Orochimaru and Kabuto, there was another person.<p>

"You're late," Sasuke said to Orochimaru, "you said you were going to help me hone a new jutsu this afternoon, Orochimaru."

Kabuto folded his arms and warned, "If I were you, boy, I'd take a more respectful tone."

This was not the first time Kabuto got on to Sasuke for not being respectful towards his superiors. Orochimaru did not want another quarrel, so he said to his assistant, "Enough, Kabuto." Then got to the point, "Our efforts today have been rewarded with a little gift: someone for you to reminisce with, a shinobi from the Leaf Village."

Ever suspicious, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and took a good look at the Leaf shinobi.

The boy was the palest person he had ever seen. He wore black clothing and had the easily recognizable headband with the Leaf's symbol on his forehead. What made Sasuke feel slightly uneasy was the fact that this ninja had a similar face to his. The boy gave a faux smile and said, "So, you're the legendary Sasuke Uchiha. I'm Sai, and it's nice to-."

"Get lost." Sasuke interrupted before shutting his eyes. He was not in the mood for pleasantries. In his head, he could hear the Darkness voice his thoughts.

**He makes me sick.**

Sai sighed in defeat and admitted, "No matter how much I smile, everyone seems to dislike me right away…even Naruto."

Sasuke opened his eyes at the mention of that name. The whole room suddenly became cold, and everyone could sense it. Nevertheless, Sai put on another smile and once again tried to get on good terms with the Uchiha, "But I can already tell that you're nothing like him, so I have a feeling that you and I will get along much better."

Sasuke had just about enough of this kid. His eyes glowed yellow, but not brightly enough to cover the pattern of his Sharingan. He stared directly into Sai's dark pupils and, with the Darkness, he began to weave an illusion of madness. Normally, he would use his genjutsu to traumatize his opponents, but with the Darkness, he could instill more effective illusions into their minds.

In truth, all he had to do was stare in the eyes of his unfortunate opponent and will the Darkness to do the rest. He had once decided to see the illusions the Darkness created, and for several nights, he had nightmares that he never relayed to anyone. Since then, he never dared to look at the creations made from the twisted mind of the dark entity that rested within him.

Sai's eyes widened with horror and his whole body began to shake. Sweat dripped from underneath his headband and he started to take many shallow breaths. Eventually, his legs were wobbling to the point where he could no longer stand and he toppled over backwards. Seeing what he was doing, Kabuto shouted, "Sasuke!"

He figured that enough was enough, so Sasuke broke eye contact. Orochimaru glanced at the terror-stricken Sai and warned him, "You shouldn't bait Sasuke too much; he's more difficult than _I_ am."

As he stood up, Sasuke said to his mentor, "I don't care about him. Come on, let's go."

He started to walk off when he heard Sai say, "Naruto's told me a lot about you…"

He turned around. Sai was slowly getting back on his feet, though he was still shaking. Personally, Sasuke was slightly impressed that he could still talk after what he had seen. He went on, "He's been looking for you this whole time, you know, for the last three years."

Sasuke now wondered if Sai was trying to annoy him on purpose. Without turning around, he said, "Oh yeah…_him_." Out of several subjects he didn't want to talk about, Naruto was one of them. He said to Orochimaru once more, "Let's go, Orochimaru."

But Sai continued, "Naruto thinks of you as a brother, or so Sakura says."

_Brother_. That word alone brought back hateful memories. He finally did turn around and, glaring at Sai, said, "The only brother I have… is the one I want to kill." With that said, he finally left the room.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Shuichi,<em>

_How are you and Hanyuu faring? I understand that Hanyuu has been pregnant for a few months now. I will honestly say that I wish I could be there for both of you. It also saddens me that I will never be able to hear my future niece or nephew call me "Uncle Kazunori", but it is for the best that I stay away from humankind altogether._

_Life as a hermit is hard, and with winter coming, life is going to be even harder. I suppose I could starve to death, that way I won't have to kill an animal for food just to continue my miserable existence, but even then, I will not die. You may think immortality is a gift, Shuichi, but it is a curse._

_With warm wishes,_

_Kazunori_

* * *

><p>In actuality, Orochimaru wasn't going to help Sasuke with a new jutsu. Instead, he just wanted to know more about the Darkness.<p>

_"What about it?"_ Sasuke asked, mad that Orochimaru had lied to him.

_"I'm just curious about it." _He answered truthfully. _"It's not every day you see someone who is able to wield the power of a demon, not including the jinchuriki, of course. So tell me: how _did_ you get this power?"_

_**Our little secret, Sasuke.**_

_"What's it matter to you?"_

After that, he retired to his room. He had dozed off for a short while when something woke him up. It could have been another hazy nightmare, but it was most likely the feeling that he was being watched. He heard the door crack open slightly and, facing the back wall, he could see a little light enter the back corner of the room.

"Who's there?" He demanded without getting up.

"My cover's been blown," he heard a familiar sigh, "but I can still take action."

Sasuke groaned, "What do you want?"

"I'm here to take you back to the Leaf Village." Sai said.

The annoyances never seemed to end. The last thing Sasuke wanted was another Leaf ninja trying to take him back to the village. A dark fog crept from underneath the bed and started to cover Sasuke. It quickly hardened to the point where it became armor. He knew he had to protect himself for what he was going to do.

Not noticing what was happening in the dark, Sai went on, "My mission was to kill you. At first, I was going to, but now, I want to protect this bond you two share… the bond…that Naruto so desperately wants to hold on to."

**"A bond?"**

Sai looked to his left and saw a Darkling hunched in a corner. It held five lit paper bomb tags in each of its little claws like playing cards. It snarled, **"That's your excuse for disturbing Sasuke's rest?"**

Sasuke sat up and once again glared at Sai with glowing yellow eyes. The Leaf ninja now saw the glossy obsidian armor that Sasuke was wearing, and he knew that he would not stand a chance if he were to stay.

**"Bombs away!" **The Darkling shouted as it threw all the tags in Sai's direction.

The explosion could be heard by everyone and everything in and close to the hideout. It left a gaping hole in the structure and sunlight poured in. It instantly dissolved the armor Sasuke was wearing, but it had already served its purpose of protecting him from the explosion. By the time the smoke cleared, he had already scaled the newly formed cliff the explosion had made. It didn't take long for him to notice Sai standing below him.

_Damn it…_, Sasuke swore to himself. Sai must have been able to move away in time.

Seconds after that thought, a familiar looking girl with pink hair ran out into the open. She was arguing with Sai, thinking he was the one who caused the explosion. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the girl was-.

"Sakura." He said.

Her eyes widened and she slowly turned her head to face him. She stared at him for what seemed like an eternity to her. She stammered, "S-Sasuke?"

Two more people arrived at the scene. One was a jonin with a somewhat stern look on his face. The other…was unmistakably Naruto.

He had grown much taller over the past three years, but other than that, he didn't look that much different. He still wore a ridiculous orange outfit and he still had that naïve look on his face. He stared at the one who he still considered to be his friend and breathed, "Sasuke."

"So, Naruto, you came too." The whole gang was here, except for, "I assume that Kakashi's here somewhere."

The jonin stepped forward and said, "Sorry, but Kakashi couldn't make it; I'm here in his stead. We of Team Kakashi are here to take you back to the Leaf Village."

It seemed like Naruto and the others were never going to give up. Already, Naruto was asking why Sasuke didn't kill him back then.

**Yes, Sasuke, why **_**didn't**_** you kill him years ago?**

Simply put: he only spared Naruto's life on a whim. Yet now, he could _lose_ his life on a whim. Sasuke jumped down and he already had his sword drawn. This time, he would show no mercy. However, just as he was about to strike, Sai grabbed his wrist and held him back.

Naruto used this chance to leap back. The jonin concentrated and a wooden beam shot out of his hand. Sasuke took a quick glance around him and saw that he was surrounded. He charged his chakra to his whole body and let loose a Chidori Stream, shocking everyone nearby. Sakura was the first to shake off her paralysis and she charged at him, fists at the ready. His past bonds didn't hold him back as he activated his Sharingan and charged his Lightning chakra to his sword. However, just as he was about to strike her, the jonin dashed in front of her, readying a kunai to block him. This proved futile, as the sword sliced through the kunai and pierced the jonin's shoulder.

"Captain Yamato!" Sakura cried out.

Sasuke saw the paralysis taking effect on the Wood-Style using shinobi. He explained, "My Kusanagi blade is nothing like Orochimaru's: mine is impossible to block."

He now noticed that Naruto wasn't doing anything. He looked over in his direction and saw that he was still on the ground, struggling to get up. There was a feral look to Naruto's eyes and he saw that he had claws in place of hands. The last time he was like that, he turned into a one-tailed incarnation of the Kyubi. To Sasuke, it looked like Naruto was having a hard time controlling his power.

Sasuke felt like this was something he had to see for himself. With his Sharingan, he stared into Naruto's eyes, and beyond them, he could see what was happening.

* * *

><p>Sasuke was inside what looked like a sewer. He was in a large, spacious room with the back sealed off by a giant barred gate. A bubbling form of the Kyubi's head had emerged from the water on the floor, and it was staring Naruto down. Sasuke walked forward and stepped in between the boy and the fox.<p>

**"WHO ARE YOU?" **The Kyubi paused before noting, **"I SEE…AN UCHIHA… YOU'VE COME QUITE FAR…"**

"What are _you_ doing here?" A puzzled Naruto asked.

Instead of answering, Sasuke said, "I can see it now…the source of your strength. I'd never imagine you had such a thing inside of you."

**"YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE ME, THANKS TO THAT ABOMIDABLE SHARINGAN… A PRODUCT OF YOUR ACCURSED BLOODLINE."**

"It seems like this isn't your first encounter with these eyes, which means that you must be the legendary Nine-Tailed Fox."

The Kyubi glared at Sasuke and said in a low growl, **"YOUR OCCULAR POWERS AND THAT VILE CHAKRA YOU EXUDE… YOU REMIND ME OF MADARA UCHIHA."**

A dark aura surrounded Sasuke and his eyes glowed yellow once more. The room grew darker until it was only illuminated by the Kyubi's ominous chakra. Both the fox and Naruto stared as a thousand tendrils erupted from behind Sasuke. Several dozen of the demon snakes also emerged from the shadows, all of them glaring at the Kyubi with their red eyes. The fox's own eyes widened to the point where they looked like they were about to pop out of its skull. Naruto had never known the Kyubi to be afraid of anything, that is, until this point.

"W-w-what _are_ those things?" Naruto started to back away, but he tripped. Nevertheless, he still continued to scoot back on his hands and feet. He wasn't going to lie: there was something about this creature that really scared him. Did Sasuke really have control over this…_thing_?

**"AND YOU HAVE THE DAMNED DARKNESS?"**

**"**_**The Nine-Tailed Fox," **_the Darkness hissed, **"**_**where have you been these past years?**_**"**

**"I WOULD ASK **_**YOU**_** THE SAME THING! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONE FOR GOOD!"**

**"**_**Darkness never dies, Kyubi.**_**"**

Naruto figured the voice came from the snakes, and just hearing it made him feel ill. Sasuke turned to the many snakes and demanded, "What are you doing here? I didn't summon you forth."

The Darkness did not answer him. Sasuke tried to will it back inside him, but nothing happened. As he kept trying, the Kyubi said snarled, **"YOU… WHAT DID YOU DO TO BRING IT BACK?"**

All of a sudden, all the tendrils in the darkness lunged at the fox and struck it. As the Kyubi's form started to dissolve, it said, **"YOU STUPID UCHIHA… LET ME WARN YOU… DON'T END UP LIKE KETSUEKI… DON'T… KILL… NA…RU…TO… DON'T DES…TROY… THE… LI…GHT… IN…THE…DARK-"**

* * *

><p>Sasuke blinked and he was back at the hideout. He saw that Naruto was back to normal and was slowly getting up. However, he could tell that he still looked shaken from what he had seen earlier. After what had happened, Sasuke had temporarily forgotten about the ongoing battle.<p>

Yamato had recovered from his paralysis and was summoning several curved wooden beams. Sasuke saw what he was trying to do and he skidded away before jumping back to the top of the cliff. He looked back down and saw a wood dome on the ground. For a moment, he was almost caught in Yamato's trap.

He looked up and saw dark clouds gathering directly above him. He looked at his opponents and figured that now would be the perfect time to finish them off.

"Sasuke…" Naruto struggled to gain his composure, "What the hell _was_ that thing? What are you hiding?"

His friends all stared at him, wondering what he was talking about. Sasuke answered, "It doesn't matter now," he raised his arm to the sky, "I'm done with you and the Leaf."

Thunder lit up the clouds. Just as Sasuke was about to use his jutsu, someone grabbed his wrist and said, "I wouldn't use _that_ jutsu, Sasuke."

He turned his head and saw that it was Orochimaru that had stopped him. Why wouldn't he let him finish them off? Sasuke told him, "Let go."

"Now what did I tell you about being more respectful towards Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto appeared next to him.

"Why should I stop?"

Kabuto explained, "You know that the Akatsuki's on the move, and we want these Leaf people to get rid of them for us. If the Akatsuki interferes, it would stop you from getting your precious revenge."

Sasuke knew little about the Akatsuki, other than they want Naruto and that Itachi is a member. He was aware that Orochimaru was a former member, and that the Akatsuki was still hunting him down for leaving. He remarked, "That's a pitiful excuse."

"Jeopardize your quest for vengeance," Kabuto went on, "or increase its chance of success… which seems to be the more prudent choice for you?"

Sasuke did not like Kabuto's explanation. He looked down at his former Leaf comrades. He was one flick of the wrist away from killing them all…and he was supposed to stop? Still…

**Don't listen to him, Sasuke. Kill them all.**

Sasuke lowered his arm and only muttered, "Tch."

"Bright boy." Orochimaru noted.

The three vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto may have been spared again, but next time…he won't be so lucky. Next time, Sasuke won't let anyone or anything hold him back.

* * *

><p><strong>*= "Spirit of Darkness" or "God of Darkness" I <strong>_**do**_** know a little Japanese.**

**Whew! That was a long chapter to write! How does the Kyubi know the Darkness? Who is this "Ketsueki" it mentioned? What is the meaning behind its mysterious message to Sasuke? Next time: Orochimaru's transfer jutsu is close at hand, but the Darkness won't give up its host that easily! Stick around!**

"Hey! Where did all the dialogue between Naruto and Sasuke go?" **Most of the time, I will abridge the lengthy dialogue and flashbacks, or just ignore it altogether. I can't spend all this space going over every detail that we already know. If I feel like it is something necessary, then I will go through the trouble of adding all that dialogue.**

"Hey Foxgirl, are you going to introduce the Angelus and the Dark Brotherhood into this story?" **No, I don't really care about those guys. Even if I wanted to use them, there would be too many stories to juggle around. Besides, a badass like the Darkness deserves at least half the spotlight.**

**I have a lot of work to do, and I have been slacking off. Once more, please be patient with me.**


	6. Chapter 6:  The Ritual

**Disclaimer: Sign broken, see chapter 1 for disclaimer.**

"Hey Foxgirl, I don't understand what the Darkness is. Can you explain it to me?"

"…**Have you ever seen the movie **_**Star Wars**_**? The Darkness is the Force on crack." Sonatine, **_**The Darkness: Coming of Age**_**.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: The Ritual<p>

In the darkness of the training arena, Sasuke glared at Itachi with Sharingan eyes. They both charged at each other, Sasuke with his sword and his brother with a kunai. Charging his sword with Lightning chakra, Sasuke had no problem cleaving the kunai, and his brother, in half. However, the feeling of satisfaction lasted for only a second before Itachi vanished in a puff of smoke. Sensing that the real one was nearby, Sasuke made a 180 turn and lunged forward, sword first.

His intuition proved to be correct as he saw that his sword had pierced Itachi in the abdomen. Not stopping, Sasuke charged his spare arm with Lightning chakra and punched his adversary square in the face. The impact flung Itachi back several feet and he landed on his back, still skidding backwards along the way.

Not giving him a chance to recover, Sasuke quickly sheathed his sword and made some hand signs. He inhaled deeply, then breathed out a large fireball at his fallen opponent. When the flames died down, only a charred corpse remained. From the upper balcony, the Darklings cheered.

**"Woo! Way to go, Sasuke!"**

**"Burn, baby, **_**burn**_**!"**

**"No one can beat Sasuke!"**

**"He…has…**_**the POWER**_**!"**

The corpse got up on his feet and hobbled towards Sasuke. Just as Sasuke unsheathed his sword, the corpse put his hands up in the air and pleaded, **"No! Stop stop stop! I give up! I can't take any more of this, boss!"**

Sasuke stared for a few seconds, then sheathed his sword once more. He said, "That was pathetic, Mutsuki. The real Itachi is much stronger than that."

**"Sorry Sasuke," **the charred form of Itachi shrank and shape-shifted until it looked like a Darkling, **"but you don't know that much about your brother's abilities either. You know I can only perform based on how much you know about Itachi's abilities."**

Sasuke looked up at the cheering crowd of Darkings and noticed that they were eating some strange looking meat. The smell of formaldehyde passed by his nose and he had to pinch it. He called out, "What the hell are you eating?"

**"Hearts!"**

**"Straight from Glasses-Face's lab!"**

**"Want one?"**

One Darkling tossed a heart at Sasuke's feet, which landed with a sickening splat. The Darkling named Mutsuki scurried up to him and asked, **"Are you going to eat that?"**

Most of the time, Sasuke could not believe these Darklings. He had learned from the Darkness that it needed human hearts in order satiate its hunger and grow stronger. Of course, he found the idea to be very repulsive. When he refused to let the Darkness devour the hearts of his fallen opponents, the Darklings started sneaking out and raiding Kabuto's laboratory for his inventory of preserved hearts. True, Sasuke did feel stronger afterwards, but even though he wanted more power, he did not want to resort to barbaric methods, for even this power-hungry avenger had some shred of humanity left in him.

Deciding that tonight's training was a total flop, he silently left the arena. Mutsuki, taking his master's silence as a "yes", started devouring the heart on the floor like a starved dog at a steak buffet.

* * *

><p>Sasuke sat alone in his room, looking at the torn family photo in his hands. Many thoughts were running through his head.<p>

He knew that he was already more powerful than Orochimaru, and that the time of the ritual was going to take place eventually, with tomorrow being the soonest date. He had said that he would willingly give up his body if it meant that Itachi would die. However, with his strength and the Darkness, he planned on abandoning that idea.

Tomorrow, he was going to kill Orochimaru. But what about afterwards?

Sasuke had already planned that out as well. In fact, he had been planning it since the Darkness awoke on his sixteenth birthday. He would form his own squadron of four, so that he would have backup during daylight hours. After moving from hideout to hideout, he had already decided who he was going to recruit.

For his use of Water-Style jutsu, he would pick Suigetsu. For her chakra tracking ability, he would pick Karin. For his immense amount of strength, he would pick Jugo. Once he assembled his team, they would go out and search for Itachi.

And when he found him?

Mutsuki was right: Sasuke did not know all the abilities that his brother had. Chances are, he would have a trump card or two in addition to the techniques he already possessed. Of course, Sasuke had three trump cards of his own. One, he had the Darkness. Two, he still had the curse mark. Three, he had the Kirin, the Lightning jutsu that would instantly kill anyone it hits. With all these abilities at his disposal, Sasuke felt confident that he could kill anyone, even Itachi.

He put away the photo and blew out the candle. He wanted to be well rested when he put his plan to action tomorrow. He figured that, being in a weakened state, Orochimaru would be easy to kill. Then again, he had never seen his ritual before, so he didn't know what to expect. The worst case scenario: he gets caught off guard and that snake gets his body.

**I **_**own**_** you, Sasuke. Your flesh will never belong to him.**

No, Sasuke couldn't have any doubts now. He had to succeed tomorrow, he just _had_ to.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Shuichi,<em>

_I am glad to hear that your son is doing fine. Kids grow up so fast; time never ceases to surprise me. I am surprised to hear that Hanyuu is pregnant again. How many children do you plan on having, Shuichi? I just wish I could have a child of my own._

_Shuichi, mom never told you about your stepfather before, did she? I have told you before that my father died on his wedding night with mom, but there is more to him than that. Mom told me that he was a madman, only seeking to destroy things. More than anyone, he wanted our clan to rule over everyone._

_Today, I saw my father, though I don't know if it was a hallucination or an illusion. His legs were missing and he was slowly being tortured and eaten alive by monsters. What really frightened me was that he was _enjoying_ it. He had lost his mind. He laughed and told me, "Kazunori, why do you hate the Darkness so much? It's so wonderful, Kazunori. Come join me in the Darkness."_*****

_It was so horrible, Shuichi! I'm sorry if I keep burdening you with my woes, but I have to tell someone about all this. Maybe through my letters, the family will know about the true nature of the Darkness._

_Stay healthy,_

_Kazunori_

* * *

><p>Sasuke woke up to the painful screams of Orochimaru. He had no time to try to recollect his nightmare. He grabbed his sword and ran out the door. Just as he was close to his sensei's room, he stopped at a fork in the corridor and sidled himself against the wall.<p>

"Your body is reaching its breaking point." He could hear Kabuto say. "If you don't take the level 10 medicine, there's not much more I can do for you."

He could hear Kabuto walk out of the room, saying, "I'll go get the other medicine. I'll be right back."

Orochimaru coughed a few times, then laughed maniacally out loud. Sasuke could imagine it now: Orochimaru, weak in bed, and stupidly confident that he would get the young Uchiha's body soon. Sasuke peeked around the corner, and, seeing that no one was there, turned the corner and stood in front of the door to his mentor's room. He readied his sword in one hand while he raised his other hand. He focused the Chidori into his hand and extended it so that it formed a long spear, which pierced through the door.

"Who's there?" Orochimaru called out.

Sasuke sliced the door several ways and it collapsed into several pieces. In the dim candlelight, he saw Orochimaru in bed. Unfortunately for Sasuke, his old mentor had raised his arms to guard himself in time, so the spear had only pierced his wrists. Seeing this, he glared at him with Sharingan eyes.

Grimacing from the pain, Orochimaru said to him, "I knew you'd come for me."

"You have nothing more to teach me," Sasuke said as his curse mark started to spread to his arms and face, "I'm stronger than you."

He moved the spear to the side, dragging Orochimaru's wrists with it. Now Sasuke had a clear shot of him.

"At this point," he went on, "I don't see a reason to hand my body over to you."

"Such a bold statement from a young Uchiha." Orochimaru glared back.

"Of course it had to be the young one; it's the only Uchiha you could handle. Itachi was out of the question, so you picked me, the baby."

He went on to mock Orochimaru on how he was just a run-of-the-mill ninja, and how pathetic he was compared to the Uchiha. All the while, he couldn't help but think back to how similar he was to Itachi in the sense that he toyed with people just so that he could test his power.

_"Why did you kill everyone?" _Sasuke yelled at his brother on that dreadful night.

_"I had to," _Itachi had answered, _"it was to measure my capacity."_

**You are what you hate, Sasuke.**

"You disgust me." He concluded.

Sasuke charged forward and aimed his sword right at Orochimaru's heart. However, a second before his blade had pierced him, the sannin's mouth opened wide and something flew out of it. Sasuke turned around and saw the monstrosity that used to be Orochimaru.

It was a giant white snake. Each of its scales was composed of smaller white snakes and its head looked like a failed unification of snake and man. It, along with all the other snakes that made up its body, hissed at their prey.

Sasuke retained his composure and said, "The giant white-scaled snake…never would I recognize you, Orochimaru. After all the experiments you did to yourself, you're not even human anymore."

"Sasukeeeeee," the snake retraced its head back, ready to strike, then lunged forward with its mouth open, "give me your body!"

Sasuke dodged to the side, leaving the snake to almost crash into the wall. Several of its snakes stretched towards him, but he sliced their heads off without much effort. With his back to the wall, he sheathed his sword and removed his shirt. The curse mark started to spread across the rest of his body until he was in his second state. At the same time, darkness started to envelope his body, forming armor against his skin.

"A snake that crawled on the earth dreamt of soaring through the sky," Sasuke said poetically, "knowing full well that it was impossible."

Many snakes lunged forward and started wrapping themselves around him. Still, he went on, "Still, hoping beyond hope, it kept its eye on a baby bird that it nurtured in its own nest, never realizing that-."

Tendrils erupted from his armor and sliced the snakes off of his body. They then they proceeded to slice the giant snake into many sections. Sasuke stood before the bloody mess, his dark armor covering his body and newly formed wings. He finished his sentence, "The snake is prey because that bird is a hawk, ready to take to the sky!"

"Sasuke…" The head of the serpent hissed, then fell silent.

The armor dissolved and Sasuke's form returned to normal. He stared at the remains of the white snake and muttered, "That's it? That was disappointing."

He turned to leave when suddenly, weakness overcame him. He dropped to his knees and it felt like his whole body was falling asleep. He hadn't used that much chakra in battle, so what was wrong with him?

"It's about time it took effect."

The section of the snake that had its head still attached rose itself up. Staring at Sasuke with hungry eyes, it went on, "The bodily fluids of the Great Serpent will evaporate the moment they are exposed to the air. They have a rather…numbing effect. I am immortal…you cannot kill me. Now, let me take you."

It rose itself up once more. Dark armor formed on Sasuke again. Staring directly into the open mouth of the snake, he figured that if he was immortal, then there was only one way to deal with him. He braced himself as the snake lunged forward and swallowed him whole.

* * *

><p>In his lab, Kabuto ground up various roots and powders with his mortar and pestle. As he was doing this, he thought to himself, <em>No medicine will help him now. The ritual must be performed tomorrow, or better yet, today. <em>He put the mixture onto a sheet of paper and folded it up. _I can't imagine Sasuke would go without a fuss. _With the medicine in hand, he left the room. _Still, it's not like he can do anything, not against that ritual anyways._

When Kabuto was nearing his master's room, he saw that the door was gone and that blood was pooling outside of it. Worried that Orochimaru may have been attacked, he ran to the room and peered inside. What he saw caused him to drop the medicine from his hand.

The Great Serpent's body had been sliced into many pieces. Standing in the middle of the room was Sasuke. He seemed to be staring off into space, not noticing that Kabuto was there. _Why is he here? _Kabuto thought to himself. _The snake has already shed its skin, so…has the ritual already taken place?_

Sasuke turned his head and started to walk forward. Kabuto stepped out of his way, not knowing what he was going to do. The young ninja walked past him, ignoring him completely. Kabuto cautiously asked, "Which one are you?"

Sasuke stopped and slowly turned around to face Kabuto with closed eyes. He slowly opened them, revealing the Sharingan. He asked, "Which do you think I am?"

With his eyes, he showed Kabuto everything that had happened.

* * *

><p>It was dark, with only Sasuke standing in the middle of a vast expanse of pulsating flesh. He wondered out loud, "What is this place?"<p>

"It's the universe inside me." A blob rose out of the flesh. "This is where the Transference Ritual takes place." From the shapeless blob of flesh, Orochimaru's face could be seen. It eyed Sasuke and asked, "Shall we begin?"

Tendrils of flesh rose up and started to meld with Sasuke's skin. It covered him, weaved in and out of him, and yet, he had to keep his fear in check. He calmed himself down and focused his Sharingan eyes on the thing that was Orochimaru. More tendrils came out of Orochimaru's form and reached out for the young Uchiha.

"Finally," Orochimaru said, "the Sharingan…and the Darkness, will be all mine!"

_**"Orochimaru…"**_ A familiar voice spoke from the darkness.

The flesh that was covering Sasuke turned black and started receding. The darkness spread out until it covered the entire mindscape. Sasuke's eyes glowed yellow, completely covering the pattern of his Sharingan.

"No!" Orochimaru screamed. "No! This is my universe! I created it! This can't happen! It can't! This is impossible-."

"Orochimaru," Sasuke said to him, "my eyes can see through all your jutsu."

A dark shadow rose from behind him and took the form of a four winged snake, though it looked more like a dragon than a snake. It towered over Orochimaru and roared, showing several rows of jagged teeth.

"This can't be happening!" The sannin still panicked. "I am immortal! I am Orochimaru! I am the one who will unlock the mysteries of nature! I am the one who will receive _everything_!"

_**"You thought you could control me?" **_The Darkness spoke. _**"No, Orochimaru, **_**I**_** do all the controlling here. Sasuke is **_**my**_** puppet…and you will suffer."**_

The dragon lunged forward and snapped its jaws shut on Orochimaru's shapeless form. It tore him out of the ground and started grinding him up between its teeth. It turned its head to a particular direction and stared off into the distance with burning red eyes.

* * *

><p>Kabuto clutched onto his chest, feeling like he was going to have a heart attack. He could somehow hear the echo of Orochimaru's screams in his head. When the Darkness had looked at him, he felt like he was being burned alive by evil itself. He knew without a doubt that his master was suffering a fate worse than death.<p>

"W-what did you d-d-do to him?" Kabuto stammered.

"I absorbed him," Sasuke simply said, "that's all."

Sasuke walked away, thinking back to what had just happened. It started off with him stopping Orochimaru's jutsu and reversing it, but then the Darkness emerged without him consciously thinking about it. Yes, Sasuke did plan to reverse the jutsu so that _he_ would absorb Orochimaru, but the dark parasite inside him decided to take it to another step.

In his mind's eye, he could see Orochimaru being ripped to pieces by Darklings and demonic snakes. Sasuke had meant to absorb him, and he did, but the Darkness made a living hell for his former mentor, one that he would never escape from. It didn't bother him that Orochimaru was suffering, but it _did_ bother him that the Darkness called him its puppet. How could it say that, when _he_ was the one controlling _it_?

**What makes you think **_**you**_** were in control the whole time?**

Sasuke did not want to think about it. Instead, he decided to focus on recruiting his teammates. The sooner he formed his team, the better.

* * *

><p><strong>Uh oh, the Darkness is starting to act on its own accord now. Will Sasuke be able to handle it? Next time, Sasuke forms Team Hebi! Also…Sasuke is being watched? Find out who it is…next time!<strong>

***= This speech is derived from the horror manga "**_**Uzumaki**_**" ("Yukie, dear, come join me in the spiral."). Also, there is a major character named Shuichi and a minor one named Kazunori in the aforementioned manga. Like horror? I recommend reading "**_**Uzumaki**_**" by Junji Ito-san.**


	7. Chapter 7:  Team Hebi

**Disclaimer in Zero Wing: "All their work that are Kishimoto-san or Top Cow are not belong to me."**

**Even though I get most of my information from the manga, I still watch the English-subbed episodes of Naruto in order to get a grasp on room lighting and the flow of these battles. One room may appear to be bright in the manga while it is dim in the anime, or possibly vice-versa. Lighting is very important when you're dealing with the Darkness!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: Team Hebi<p>

Sasuke walked down to the lower levels of the hideout. Stationed all around the room were glass tanks filled with water or other unknown fluids. He walked to a particular tank, and some bubbles welled up to the surface of the water.

"I knew you'd show up," a voice could be heard from the tank, "so I take it then, that you've killed Orochimaru."

"Yeah," Sasuke drew his sword, "let's get you out of there."

He made a single, horizontal slash on the glass and water gushed out all over the floor. From the water, a humanoid figure rose up and looked at his rescuer.

"I'm free at last," he said as limbs started to form, "my regards, Sasuke."

"Suigetsu, you are my first," Sasuke sheathed his sword, "come with me."

"I'm your first? Who else, then?"

"Two more: I'm taking Jugo of the Northern Hideout and Karin from the Southern."

The form of the one called Suigetsu was now completely formed. It was a nude boy with short white hair, piercing violet eyes, and teeth like a shark's. He groaned, "You serious?"

"Why?" Sasuke was wondering what was going through his head.

"Well, I'm not particularly fond of them. I just don't think we'd get along, is all."

"You don't need to be friends, just cooperate."

"Of course," Suigetsu stood up, "after all, you did save me. If that's what you want, then I have no objections. Still, I can't believe you'd go for them."

"Just shut up and get dressed, we're going."

"Oh dear," the shark boy eyed Sasuke, "the way you talk…"

In an instant, Suigetsu sank into the water and rose up behind Sasuke. He positioned his fingers like he was holding a gun and pressed his index finger against Sasuke's temple. He said, "Let's just clarify our relationship, shall we?"

Sasuke was not fazed by Suigetsu's sudden action, but he wondered what he was up to. For the moment, he decided to just listen to what Suigetsu had to say to him.

"You may have defeated Orochimaru, but that alone doesn't make you my leader. We were all aiming for it, and sooner or later, someone was bound to kill him. You were his favorite; he let you stay by his side while the rest of us slept in cages. You had all the advantage you needed."

"And your point is?"

"Look at us. Right now, I have the advantage."

As soon as he said those words, he felt two things breathing on his shoulders. He looked both ways and saw the twin demon snakes of the Darkness glaring at him, ready to tear at his throat on their master's command. He said, "So it's not just some bullshit rumor after all: you really do have dark powers."

Suigetsu moved his hand away from Sasuke and said, "Forget it; I was just testing you. I put you in a bad spot, and your heart didn't even skip a beat. So it wasn't just luck that killed Orochimaru."

The snakes withdrew back into their host. Sasuke was about to leave, assuming that Suigetsu was following, when he heard him ask, "It was your old platoon that took down my predecessor, Zabuza Momochi, wasn't it?"

Sasuke stopped. Yes, back when he was with Team 7, they did take down Zabuza, along with Haku, but why was Suigetsu asking him this? Before Sasuke could ask, Suigetsu said, "Sure, I'll come with you, but before we get the others, there's a place I want to swing by."

Sasuke didn't have to think hard to figure out where Suigetsu wanted to stop by. He gave a single nod of approval and exited the room, with the first member of his team following close behind.

* * *

><p>After raiding one the many rooms of the hideout for clothing, Suigetsu joined Sasuke outside. Suigetsu had told him that he was after Zabuza's sword, the Kubikiribocho, and he wanted to know where it was. Sasuke remembered that both Zabuza and Haku were buried in the Land of Waves, with the massive sword marking Zabuza's grave.<p>

When they arrived at the Land of Waves, they stood before a large bridge. Sasuke looked up at the sign, then looked away. The bridge was called "The Great Naruto Bridge", named after the orange clad ninja for his heroism.

"Sasuke?" Suigetsu noticed the solemn look on his leader's face.

"It's nothing," Sasuke shook his head, "c'mon."

He led Suigetsu off to a side path. They didn't walk very far when they reached the graves. They were two wooden crosses in the ground, one with a headband around it to mark Haku's grave, and one with a massive sword stuck next to it, marking Zabuza's grave. Suigetsu stared at the sword with awe as he muttered, "Never thought I'd find this here."

He walked up to the sword and grabbed its hilt. As he slowly started to pull it out, he said to the grave, "Sorry Master Zabuza, but this is mine now." With one final tug, the sword flew out of the ground and Suigetsu had to use both arms to hold it steady upright. The sword itself had a hole close to the tip, large enough for a head to fit through, and a half circle on the edge further back. Suigetsu noted, "Pretty heavy, so this is the Kubikiribocho, the sword of the demon of the Village of the Bloody Mist, Zabuza."

Noticing that he was having a hard time holding it up, Sasuke asked, "You sure you're strong enough to handle it?"

Suigetsu lowered the sword, almost actually dropping it, which hit the ground with a soft "thunk". He said, "The weapons of the Seven Swordsmen are handed down, generation to generation, it's the tradition. I've trained all these years, and I've only done it out of reverence for the seven ninja. So long as I have this sword, not even _you_ can touch me," he looked at Sasuke with a somewhat menacing glare, "…maybe. Besides, if you got to have Jugo, this sword will definitely come in handy."

Sasuke felt like Suigetsu's overconfidence in the sword would be his undoing. He only said, "Let's go." before he turned around to leave. Suigetsu picked up the sword again and said, "Okay, Sasuke, from here, let's shoot for whichever hideout is closer."

* * *

><p>The Southern Hideout was on an island that looked like a barren rock from the coast. Sasuke and Suigetsu had charged chakra to their feet so they could walk on the water. On the way, Suigetsu said, "I have to ask: why are you assembling a team together when you have the Darkness?"<p>

Sasuke didn't look at Suigetsu when he answered, "The Darkness can't stand the light, so I need a team for those daylight hours. I also have a goal, and a small team will help me reach it faster."

"Okay, so why me?"

"Ever since I received the Darkness, I've been preparing for this. I always take note of shinobi that catch my eye."

"Well," Suigetsu was doubtful, "if that's your game, then you can do better than Karin. Unlike me, she's loyal to Orochimaru. She used me for experiments, you know." He said in a near growl, "She irritates me."

"Sure, there are plenty of other shinobi just as strong yet far easier to handle, but she has a special ability…one that no one else possesses."

Sasuke was referring to Karin's ability to identify, detect, and track chakra. With her on the team, they would easily find Itachi. Suigetsu sighed and admitted, "True, I can't deny that."

They finally reached the rocky shore of the Southern Hideout. Hidden among the rocks was the hideout itself, a gray rectangular building that looked typical for a prison. When they entered, they could already hear the moans of the prisoners inside. As they passed by the cells, the prisoners looked up and started whispering amongst themselves. One prisoner made a bold proclamation that Sasuke would set them free, which was something that he considered doing. They both stopped as they saw a figure approach them.

It was a girl with red hair and eyes. As she adjusted the glasses on her face, she said, "I knew it was you two." She looked at Sasuke, "Sasuke without a chaperone I see, so it wasn't just a rumor… you really did kill Orochimaru."

Suigetsu, noticing that Karin was ignoring him, blurted out, "Hey, what am I, a hunk of meat?"

Karin sighed, "What do you want?"

"Sasuke wants to talk to you. Show us a room where we can sit down and chat." He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "I'm bushed… not used to walking so far."

"Hmph." Karin turned around and led the way. After a few turns, they came to a small room with two benches in the back. Sasuke and Suigetsu sat down, with the latter setting his sword against the wall.

Sasuke got right to the point, "Karin, join me; I need you."

"You wha?" Karin was surprised. "Why on earth should I? Listen, I'm in charge of this facility!"

"Orochimaru's gone."

"I have my responsibilities! What about the prisoners?"

Now Sasuke had a reason to free the prisoners. He looked to Suigetsu and told him, "Suigetsu, go and liberate every prisoner in the compound."

"Wha?" Karin could not believe what she was hearing.

"Heh," Suigetsu stood up and grabbed his sword, "you and that commanding tone of voice."

"Don't you dare!"

Sasuke looked back to Karin and said, "There's no more need for a warden. You don't have to stick around anymore. So, what do you say?"

She looked back at Suigetsu, who was already leaving the room, then answered Sasuke, "I say 'no thanks'! I don't have any reason to join you!"

"Fine," Sasuke simply said, "if you're not interested, then I'll go find someone else."

He was about to stand up when Karin suddenly bolted for the door and locked it. There was a sudden blush on her face as she faced Sasuke, her back to the door. He could tell that there was an immediate personality change as she said sweetly, "Ok, I'll come."

Sasuke wondered what was going on when Karin slowly approached him. She sat down next to him and removed her glasses. She leaned in close to him and said, "If you really want me to, Sasuke, I'll follow you."

Now he figured what was going through her head. Back when he lived at the Leaf Village, girls would always flock to him, always completely obsessed. They would all say how cool he was, but he always ignored them. Three years later, girls still fell head over heels for him. Still, Sasuke needed Karin, so he pretended to be oblivious and asked, "What are you doing? Are you always this impulsive?"

"No," she said, "I've put a lot of thought into this, and you're right. I'm fed up with guarding this place anyways." She crept closer to him.

"Get back."

"Listen, why don't we do this alone, just the two of us? Suigetsu won't do anything for you-."

As if on cue, the door was sliced into pieces and Suigetsu entered the room. Karin quickly put her glasses back on and said that she would go with them for a short while, since she had something to do anyways. She was surprised to hear that they were going to get Jugo, but she went with them nevertheless.

* * *

><p>On the way to the Northern Hideout, the group took many breaks, due to Suigetsu's lack of endurance. During those breaks, they went over what they were up against.<p>

The Northern Hideout was just another prison, but it was a prison for those who couldn't handle the curse mark. Karin explained that the curse mark originated from Jugo, who went to Orochimaru in hopes of a cure for his bloodlust. However, instead of curing him, Orochimaru managed to isolate the enzyme that caused the cursed transformation, just so that he could inject his experiments with it.

At the third break, as Karin was yelling at Suigetsu for his poor stamina, Sasuke noticed a fallen figure up ahead and he ran over to his side. He saw that it was a prison guard, and he was badly wounded. Karin and Suigetsu soon noticed and ran over as well. Karin noted, "He's still alive."

"What happened?" Sasuke asked the fallen guard.

The guard slowly opened his eyes and, looking at Sasuke, weakly asked, "Are you…Sasuke…Uchiha? Help…"

"What's going on?" Suigetsu asked.

"It started with…a rumor, that Orochimaru…was dead. The prisoners…they all went berserk." Blood trickled out of his mouth. "The way it's going…" He shut his eyes for the last time.

"Guess he's dead." Suigetsu shrugged.

There was a loud thud and the group turned to see a dark humanoid monster with horns and fins glaring at them. He growled, "I know you…"

"What is that thing?" Suigetsu wondered out loud.

"He's in his second state," Karin's eyes were wide, "but he's already transformed!"

The next thing they knew, a cut had appeared on the monster's abdomen and he fell to the ground. Up ahead, Sasuke was already sheathing his sword. Not looking back, he said, "The Northern Hideout is right up there. Let's hurry up and meet Jugo."

Karin ran to catch up with him. Suigetsu looked back at the fallen monster and thought, _Who is this guy?_, before following the others. When they reached the entrance, a whole wave of cursed monsters was waiting for them. Corpses littered the ground and Karin noted, "All the wardens are dead…and all the inmates have broken out."

They all looked alike, yet they were all different at the same time. Suigetsu groaned, "At this rate, we can't tell which one is Jugo, eh Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked at Karin and asked, "Karin, is Jugo there?"

"Everyone shut up!" Karin made a hand sign and concentrated. "Just give me a sec."

Within that one second, she reported, "He's not among them."

Suigetsu, itching for battle, asked, "So we can do as we please, eh?"

"Just don't kill them." Sasuke told him. He did not want any unnecessary bloodshed.

"Right," Suigetsu took out his sword, "you really are of the Leaf, you know that? You're too soft."

Sasuke unsheathed his own sword, "Let's go."

The cursed beings charged, as did Sasuke and Suigetsu. There was a flurry of swipes and slashes. In a matter of minutes, all adversaries had fallen, crippled, but not dead. While Suigetsu had used up a lot of strength swinging the Kubikiribocho, Sasuke was not that tired.

Karin was standing by the entrance and, showing a ring of keys in her hand, said, "Found the keys!"

With the chakra sensor leading the way, the group once again walked through a maze of corridors and cells. Karin stopped at an intersection and looked down each path. Sasuke asked, "Which way is it, Karin? Lead on."

Frustrated with him, she snapped, "Sasuke! Quit bossing us around!"

"Just chill and figure it out." Suigetsu folded his arms. "That is what you're good at, right?"

She scolded at him before pointing to the path on the right, "That way."

Sasuke was about to follow Suigetsu when Karin grabbed his wrist and dragged him forward. As she pulled him down the corridor, she said, "It's actually this way, now come on."

He noticed that the blush had returned to her face. He asked, "Why did you lie? Suigetsu went off in the wrong direction."

"I hate Suigetsu!" Her grip on Sasuke's wrist tightened. "Always running his mouth…come on!"

"Let go," he pulled his wrist out of her grasp, "I can walk on my own."

They soon came across a chained door with many locks securing it. Both Sasuke and Karin could sense something dangerous behind the door, and they immediately knew that Jugo was behind it. As Karin started to unlock it, Sasuke thought about how he should approach Jugo. Most likely, he would be in a state of rage. His Sharingan might be enough to pacify him, but he may have to physically restrain him in order to calm him down.

Karin was about to open the door when Sasuke stopped her. He told her, "Stay back, Karin. I'll go first." He looked to the right, then to the left, and noticed that there was a light switch at the end of the corridor. If it came to it, he would have to use the Darkness to stop Jugo. He added, "If I tell you to switch the lights off, do it."

Karin moved into position, but before she could question him, he opened the door just a crack. In the small room, with a ball and chain attached to his ankle, was a boy with orange hair and eyes. His curse mark was already spreading and his eyes widened with excitement. He grinned wickedly and shouted, "BINGO! YOU'RE DEAD!"

Jugo charged at Sasuke, the ball and chain not hindering him one bit. Sasuke was about to unsheathe his sword when Jugo tackled him and shoved him into the wall. There was a loud boom and many cracks appeared on the wall. Sasuke activated his curse mark and summoned one of his wings to shove Jugo off of him.

"What? Another copycat brat?" Jugo shoved Sasuke back with his transformed arm. "Quite impressive though, that you can do segmental transformation! You're pretty good at using the curse mark!"

"I'm not here to fight you, Jugo," Sasuke got to his feet, "I just want to talk." His wing shrank back into his shoulder.

Jugo ignored him and said to himself, "He's strong! I haven't seen a copycat this good since Kimimaro!"

He was about to punch Sasuke when his fist met with a large blade. Suigetsu managed to arrive in time, but this small victory was temporary, as Jugo managed to punch the blade out of his hands. He stared at Suigetsu, surprised at his arrival, and all he said was, "What?"

"Nice technique, Jugo," Suigetsu managed to compliment, "different, but solid." He looked at his leader and told him, "Leave him to me, Sasuke. And Karin," he glared at her, "I'll get to you later."

Karin muttered something while Sasuke said, "Stop it, Suigetsu. We didn't come here to fight. Let me talk to him."

"He's not the type to listen to words," Suigetsu retrieved his sword, "the only language he understands is force."

Jugo's eyes lit up with recognition, "That's right! You're Suigetsu! I remember you now!"

They both charged at each other and their attacks clashed again.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Sasuke's commands fell on deaf ears. He looked at Karin and told her, "The lights, Karin!"

Temporarily caught up the spectacle, Karin blinked and stared at Sasuke. She asked, "What good would that do?"

He glared at her, "Do it!"

She flicked the switch off just as Suigetsu and Jugo were about to strike again.

The next thing the two fighters knew, they were being restrained by many tendrils from the floor, walls, and ceiling. They both tried to break free, but their movements were restricted. In the darkness, they could only see a single pair of yellow eyes. A familiar voice asked coldly, "Do you both want me to kill you?"

Suigetsu's and Jugo's eyes widened with fear. Jugo's curse mark receded and he looked around wildly. He wailed and tried to break free, but to no avail.

"Karin," Sasuke said, "the lights."

The lights flickered back to life and the tendrils vanished, leaving no traces behind. When they did vanish, Jugo bolted into his cell and slammed the door shut. From the other side, everyone could hear him shout, "Hurry up and lock the door!"

Sasuke couldn't believe what he had just said. Truly, he was irritated that Suigetsu and Jugo would not stop fighting, and he did intend to stop them, but the words just slipped out of his mouth. He wondered if the Darkness really was starting to influence his thoughts and feelings. He approached the door and said calmly, "No, Jugo, I came to take you out of here. Come with me."

"Sasuke really freaked him out." Suigetsu said slowly. He thought, _He freaked me out too. That feeling…he really intended to kill us both_.

"No, that's not it." Karin shook her head.

"I don't wanna kill any more people!" Jugo wailed. "I don't wanna go outside! Please…just leave me alone!"

His change of personality was apparent to the group. Suigetsu's eyes widened with disbelief and he muttered, "Whoa…Schizophrenia."

"I told you," Karin explained, "Jugo gets irrepressible violent urges and he loses control of himself. But in truth, he would rather not kill at all."

"I don't know when the urge to kill will strike again!" Jugo continued. "So please, just hurry up and lock the door!"

"I don't think it's going to work out," Suigetsu said to Sasuke, "we would have to constantly watch our backs around him."

"Who are you people anyway? Why won't you leave me alone? Please…I don't want any more blood on my hands!"

"Don't worry," Sasuke rested a hand on the door, "I'll be your cage. I'll stop you."

There was a pause before Jugo asked, "What can you do? The only one who could stop my urges is Kimimaro. If he's not here, I can't go outside!"

"Kimimaro?" Suigetsu asked. "You mean that guy from the Kaguya clan?"

Karin explained that Jugo and Kimimaro were imprisoned together, and they became friends. Because Kimimaro was so strong, he was able to stop Jugo's rampages. But now…

"Kimimaro died for me," Sasuke said, "he's gone."

"He died… for you?" Jugo paused once more. " Then that means… are you…Sasuke Uchiha?"

"That's right." Sasuke slowly opened the door. Jugo cautiously stepped out. He looked at Sasuke like he was a long lost friend and said softly, "I'll come."

"Are you kidding me?" Suigetsu and Karin could not believe it. They both looked at each other, then jerked their heads away. Sasuke had Karin unlock the ball and chain that was on Jugo's ankle with the keys before they left.

Remembering the turns they took, Karin led the group out of the hideout. Once they were at a far enough distance, Sasuke stopped and faced his newly formed team. He said to them, "Now that I've gathered my team, here's my plan."

Everyone listened carefully as he said, "My goal is to kill the Akatsuki member Itachi Uchiha, and I want your help."

"Thought so…" Suigetsu muttered to himself.

"But first," Sasuke looked at Karin, "you said you had some business to take care of. What is it?"

"R-right," Karin fidgeted, "now that I think about it, it's not really that urgent."

"Sheesh Karin," Suigetsu rolled his eyes, "can't you be honest for once? It's no big secret that you just want to be around Sasuke."

"T-that's not it at all!"

They bickered at each other for a minute before Sasuke interrupted them, "Enough. I told you from the get-go to get along."

"All right… sorry Karin." Suigetsu reluctantly said to her. "But I'm warning you though: I'm going to stay right by Sasuke's side, at least until I get the Samehada, the sword of Itachi's partner, Kisame Hoshigaki."

"You're weapon collecting?" Karin asked. "Bo-ring."

Trying to control his frustration, Suigetsu turned to Jugo and asked him, "So you're really coming with us, huh?"

Jugo said slowly, "Kimimaro said Sasuke was like his reincarnation, and he sacrificed himself to protect him." He looked at Sasuke, "I want to see what kind of shinobi you really are."

**If only he knew, Sasuke.**

Sasuke tried to ignore the cackling laughter of the Darkness as he said, "Then it's decided: from here on out, we move together. Our cell shall be known as the Hebi, and as I said earlier, the Hebi has only one goal: to find and kill Itachi Uchiha."

* * *

><p>In a dark, isolated cave, a giant statue of a face and hands stood menacingly. On the floor in front of the statue was an elderly man, a jinchuriki who had just died a few minutes ago. On the tips of seven of the ten fingers, five silhouettes and two people stood.<p>

They are the Akatsuki, and the ones present are as follows: Sasuke's brother, Itachi, the shark-like Kisame, the bomb artist Deidara, the cheerful Toby, the half-plant, dual-personality ninja, Zetsu, the origami user Konan, and their leader, Pain. Orochimaru used to be a member before he left, the puppet master Sasori was dead, the heart-wielding Kakuzu was recently killed, and the immortal Hidan was buried alive somewhere. Itachi and Kisame were the only ones that were really present; the others were just projecting their images from elsewhere.

They had just finished sealing the Four-Tailed beast, and the seven remaining members were now recapping on what had happened earlier. As said earlier, Kakuzu was killed in battle and Hidan was buried alive. Though Hidan was still alive somewhere, Pain decided that it would be too risky to intrude on Leaf territory just to retrieve one member.

"There is one more who was killed," The shadowy form of Pain reported, "Orochimaru."

There was a moment of silence before Kisame noted, "It's been ten years since he left Akatsuki…Well, at least we've been spared the task of killing him ourselves. Impressive work though, to have taken down someone so powerful. Who did it?"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Itachi was not surprised. He knew that his little brother was not the type to give in to someone like Orochimaru. Deidara, on the other hand, was mad. He muttered, "But I swore to kill Orochimaru, hmmm!"

"Heh," Kisame looked at his partner, "apple sure doesn't fall far from the tree."

"He's in the process of putting his own cell together." Zetsu's white half explained. "There is also one other thing…" He was hesitant to speak.

"Well, out with already, hmmm!" Deidara snapped.

"Surveillance on Sasuke has revealed that he _does_ have the powers of the Darkness."

"The Darkness?" Deidara and Toby asked at the same time.

Itachi said nothing, but he thought, _So it's true then_.

* * *

><p><strong>Uh oh, now the Akatsuki is aware of the Darkness. What will they do about it? What does Itachi think about all this? You will have to wait until next time to find out!<strong>

**I know the "Naruto" and "The Darkness" ratio is off for this chapter, but I plan to even it out soon. Also…I think I put in too much dialogue. I'll be skimming certain battles and dialogue later.**

**Slightly over 4,500 words? New record!**

**You know what makes my day? A good review. If you like it or if you have some advice to make this fan fiction better, click the review button at the bottom. If you absolutely have to criticize, at least explain your criticism. Don't say anything like, **"You're story sucks!" **unless you have a good explanation to go with it.**


	8. Chapter 8:  Weakness

**This is a statement saying that I don't own anything that belongs to other people, specifically Kishimoto-san's "Naruto" and Top Cow's "The Darkness".**

**(beep beep beep)… and the answer we were looking for was "disclaimer".**

**In this chapter, I am going to skip the battle between Sasuke and Deidara because it takes place outside in the sun, and the Darkness will have no role in this fight whatsoever (except at the very end). Action scenes are hard for me to write!**

**Correction: I misspelled Tobi's name in the last chapter, in case you didn't notice.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: Weakness<p>

"What the hell is the Darkness, hmmm?" Deidara asked.

"From what I have seen," Zetsu's white half explained, "it's the general name for Sasuke's new powers. As long as he is in the shadows, he can virtually do anything."

Deidara narrowed his eyes, "Is this a joke, cause I'm not laughing."

"The Darkness is not something to be taken lightly." Itachi spoke.

"Really?" Deidara looked at him. "And what do _you_ know about the Darkness, hmmm?"

Itachi did not respond. Pain looked at him and Kisame and said, "Either way, you both need to be careful, Itachi, Kisame. You are most likely Sasuke's targets." He glanced at everyone else, "That goes for everyone here. They may come after you to get information on Itachi and Kisame."

The room was silent for a few seconds before Tobi piped up, "Hey! Mr. Zetsu! Does the Darkness make Sasuke invincible? If so, then we're all screwed!"

"Not necessarily," the black half of Zetsu said, "he cannot use his powers in the presence of light."

"Heh, so even the almighty Darkness has a weakness, hmmm?" Deidara smirked. "So I guess I better take him out while the sun's still up, hmmm?"

"Whaaaat?" Tobi exclaimed. "Don't tell me you're going after him!"

"…or the NineTail's jinchuriki, whichever I find first."

"How about neither?"

"Tobi, you asshole!" Deidara felt like punching his partner in the face. "I still owe that Nine-Tailed brat for the beating he gave me, and Kakashi for taking my right arm, hmmm*****! And I can't forgive Sasuke for denying me Orochimaru."

"You can't kill him." Itachi spoke up.

"What? Are you saying I'm not strong enough to kill him, hmmm? I'll show you, I'll show you all! C'mon Tobi!" The projection of Deidara vanished.

"Whaaaat?" Nevertheless, Tobi followed suit.

Pain sighed and, narrowing his eyes, said to everyone, "Dismissed."

The projections of Pain, Konan, and Zetsu vanished, along with the giant statue. After landing on the floor, Kisame looked at his partner and said, "I know you don't want Deidara to kill your little brother-."

"Kisame," Itachi interrupted, "can you kill a shadow?"

"Hm?"

Itachi started to walk away. "Can you kill time? Can you kill death?"

Kisame didn't know why his partner was being so cryptic. He expected Itachi to go on, but he didn't. Instead, he wordlessly left the cave. Shaking his head, Kisame followed him out.

* * *

><p>Before they started their search for Itachi, Sasuke told his team that they would have to stock up on supplies. He led them to what seemed like an abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere. They entered the building, with Sasuke's teammates wondering what this place was.<p>

Seeing all the twists and turns, Suigetsu assumed it was another one of Orochimaru's hideouts. However, he never knew that there would be a hideout way out here. He voiced his thoughts, "I never thought we had a hideout in such a wasteland."

"This has nothing to do with Orochimaru." Sasuke explained. "This is a munitions store that my clan used to use. This is where we'll outfit ourselves for battle."

"What an irritating place," Karin wrinkled her nose, "it's stifling."

"You're welcome to leave, nya." A small voice said.

The group turned around and saw two cats in tiny kimonos looking at them. One had white and brown fur while the other had only white fur. While the others were wondering what cats were doing here, Sasuke said, "Long time no see, Denka, Hina."

"It is you, Sasuke-boy!" The white and brown cat, Denka, said with a smile.

"What brings you here, nya?" The white cat, Hina, asked.

"Weapons, medicine, and other sundries." Sasuke listed. "Preparations for the battle ahead."

Karin didn't know how these little cats were going to help them. She started to protest, "But they're-.

"Wow, talking tanuki!" Suigetsu interrupted. He crouched down and held out his hand to Denka, "Come here, boy."

Denka hissed at him, and Suigetsu quickly withdrew his hand. Sasuke said to him, "They're ninja cats. Be careful, or they'll claw you up."

Hina walked up to Sasuke and, like a child asking for candy, asked, "Did you bring any gifts, nya?"

Sasuke crouched down and fished out a bottle of catnip. "Here." He said as he handed it to Hina, who gratefully took the bottle in her mouth.

As the ninja cat bounded away happily, Denka started to walk away, saying, "This way, Nekobaa wants to see you."

As the group followed the ninja cat, he turned his head halfway in Sasuke's direction and said, "You know, Sasuke-boy, something about you seems different."

"It's been years since I came here last."

"Yeah…that's true."

Sasuke could sense Denka's doubt. He figured that he, having a feline's sixth sense, could somewhat sense the Darkness, but didn't want to say anything too suspicious to his old friend. Sasuke decided that it would be better if the cats and Nekobaa didn't know about the Darkness.

The group finally came to a spacious room littered with books, boxes, cushions, and many other miscellaneous items. The room had about a dozen cats, some mewling, some playing, and some hissing at each other. Sitting in the middle of the room was an old woman wearing a pair of fake cat ears on her head. Lowering her smoking pipe, the old woman said, "Ah, Sasuke, how long has it been?"

"Too long, Nekobaa." Sasuke stepped forward. All the cats in the room lifted their heads up and quickly scrambled behind the boxes. "We need weapons, medicine, and some spare clothing for our battles ahead."

"I'll gladly supply you if you have the money."

He fished out all the ryo he had and handed them to Nekobaa. After looking through each individual bill and coin, she said, "Weapons and medicine are in the boxes, if you can find them. As for clothing…" She called out, "Tamaki!"

From a side door, a girl with long brown hair came running out. She asked, "Yes, granny?"

"Find some clothing for our customers."

"But we're not a clothing store!"

"Find what you can, Tamaki! We're being paid here!"

The girl ran to the only dresser in the room and started searching through the drawers. She held up some shirts, then beckoned Jugo over. Karin walked over to the boxes. However, as soon as she opened the first box, a cat jumped out, landed on top of her head, and bounded off.

"Gah!" Karin stumbled backwards, sending the box flying. Before it hit the ground, Sasuke caught it. He fished out a calligraphy kit before setting the box back down.

Suigetsu laughed at Karin as he scratched the chin of the cat that had jumped out of the box. Fuming, Karin turned her back to him and went back to searching through the remaining boxes. While she was doing this, Sasuke opened up the calligraphy kit and stared inking in various tags. As he worked, he said to Nekobaa, "I am truly grateful, Nekobaa."

"So," the Granny Cat said solemnly, "you're still going after Itachi, I take it?"

Sasuke said nothing. Instead, after inking the last tag, he rolled the kit back up. Nekobaa took his silence as a "yes" and sighed, "I've known you both since you were wee kits…I never imagined it would come to this. Today, you two are the only remaining Uchiha, and yet you two must kill each other."

Sasuke pocketed the tags and stood up. He saw that Karin had gathered various medicines, bandages, and throwing weapons in her arms, so he said to Nekobaa, "We'll be going now. Thank you for all you've done."

Hearing Sasuke say that they had to go, Suigetsu sighed as he stopped scratching the cat's chin. Over at the dresser, Tamaki could not find anything that would fit Jugo. She looked at Nekobaa and asked, "Granny, don't we have bigger clothes somewhere?"

"You said yourself that we aren't a clothing store." Nekobaa glanced around the room and spotted a white curtain hanging off to the side. "Use that curtain over there."

"But-."

Jugo walked over to the curtain and snatched it. With a flourish, he wrapped it around himself and found that it made a good cloak. Tamaki looked over at the big pile of clothes that she left on the floor and started looking through them to find anything that would fit everyone else (easy enough, compared to looking for clothing for Jugo). Conveniently enough, there were three spare black cloaks that looked like they would fit Sasuke, Suigetsu, and Karin. She offered them forward, which Suigetsu took. For a laugh, he tossed them in Karin's direction. Surprised at the incoming pile of clothes, she took a few steps back, but they still hit her in the face.

"Enough fooling around." Sasuke told Suigetsu.

Not waiting for an apology, he already exited the room. Jugo walked over to Karin and picked the clothes off of her. She gave him a quick "thanks", then shot an icy glare at Suigetsu before storming off after Sasuke. As the two left, they couldn't help but notice that all the cats that were hiding earlier were now coming out from behind the boxes. Jugo especially had to wonder why the cats were acting odd, but decided to shrug the thought off.

When everyone emerged from outside the warehouse, they got situated. They divided their supplies amongst each other and each donned on their new cloaks (save for Jugo, who still wore the curtain). Afterwards, they headed on out. When they reached a cliff overlooking the area, storm clouds had already gathered. They stopped as Sasuke surveyed the area. When he was done, it started raining.

"Let's go." Sasuke said to his team.

* * *

><p>One whole day had passed without the team finding anything. Karin had tried to find Itachi's chakra signature, but it was nowhere near within range. Instead, Sasuke had decided to go information scouting. They would split up, scout around for information, then meet back outside town. For the moment though, they rented a room at a relay station close to town.<p>

Come morning, he had the team split up. Karin and Suigetsu went searching around town (separately, of course) while Sasuke and Jugo went off into the wilderness. Sasuke found out from Jugo that, despite his unpredictable nature, he had a natural ability to talk to animals. Sasuke eventually left Jugo to talk to a flock of birds and started wandering off on his own.

Sasuke wandered around the outskirts of town for an hour or two, and he came up with nothing. He was on his way to the rendezvous point when he suddenly had the feeling that he was being watched. Sasuke turned around and turned his gaze to a cluster of trees. He called out, "Show yourself."

A figure stepped out from behind the trees. He wore a black cloak with red clouds on them, and he had an orange mask with a hurricane pattern on it, with the "eye" being the only eyehole on the mask. Immediately recognizing the cloak, Sasuke muttered, "Those robes…"

"So you're Sasuke, eh?" The Akatsuki member said in a carefree voice. "You _do_ look a lot like Itachi."

Upon hearing his brother's name, Sasuke glared at the shinobi. He quickly scooted back behind the trees, exclaiming, "Damn, you're scary!"

Strange, this seemingly cowardly ninja didn't seem to be the type to be in Akatsuki. Sasuke didn't ponder that thought for long when he heard a loud swoosh above his head. He saw what looked like two large birds circling above him. One of the birds suddenly made a nosedive right towards him. Sasuke quickly bit his thumb, drawing blood, and made several hand signs. He slammed his hand to the ground and a circle of kanji appeared on the ground.

With a puff of smoke, a large snake appeared and coiled itself protectively around Sasuke. There was a large explosion and the snake disintegrated into ashes. Sasuke cautiously looked around and saw that a second figure had joined the first one. He also wore the signature Akatsuki cloak, but he had blond hair in a ponytail and what looked like an eye patch with a scope on it over his left eye.

"He's pretty good," the second Akatsuki member noted, "I still can't believe Orochimaru lost to such a brat, hmmm." He moved his arms off to the side, and Sasuke now noticed that he had mouths on the palms of his hands, one for each palm. "Quite a challenge in those eyes, eh Tobi? Hmmm!"

The shinobi with the orange mask, Tobi, sighed, "We'll have to apologize to Itachi later…"

Knowing that another battle was coming up, Sasuke activated his Sharingan. The blond noticed this and said in a spiteful tone of voice, "Sharingan…you really are Itachi's little brother. You were only able to kill Orochimaru thanks to your Uchiha blood…hmmm!" He scowled. "You're just blessed with good genes, so quit acting so damn smug!"

One minute, and already Sasuke had enough of this guy. He drew his sword and charged. He took down Tobi in one fell swoop, to which the blond ninja jumped up into a tree in response. Sasuke looked up at him and said, "Now, chatterbox, tell me where Itachi is."

He heard something behind him and he turned his head around to look. To his surprise, Tobi was back on his feet. He didn't understand; he landed a killing blow to this guy, yet it seemed like he wasn't affected at all. The blond shouted at him, "What are you doing, Tobi? Don't let your guard down with this brat just 'cuz he's a kid, hmmm!"

"He's just too fast for us both!" Tobi whined.

The blond grumbled and shoved his hands into two bags that he kept at his waist. He fished his hands back out and Sasuke saw that he had two handfuls of what looked like little balls. The blond shouted, "Stand back, Tobi!"

Tobi scooted back several yards as the blond threw all the balls at Sasuke. They all went poof in midair and they had turned into little bugs. Sasuke acted fast and charged his hands with lightning chakra. He threw many little needles at the bugs and they all hit their mark. Many of them were pinned against the trees, while others were fired back behind the blond ninja.

During his run, Tobi had tripped and was now scooting away on his hands and feet. Seeing that some of the bugs had landed near him, he shouted to his partner, "Time out, partner! Don't 'katsu' yet!" He then saw that Sasuke was behind his oblivious partner and he shouted, "Deidara! Behind you! Look out!"

Deidara turned around and saw that Sasuke was about to strike. He made a single hand sign and shouted, "Katsu!"

A small explosion erupted from the trees. Tobi stared and cried out, "Deidara!" He covered his mask with his sleeve and started crying. "He may have been strict, but he was a good partner. I will never forget him."

"Oh will you shut up Tobi, hmmm?" Deidara skidded away from the smoke of the explosion.

"You're alive!" Tobi immediately stopped crying.

They both turned their heads and saw that Sasuke had also escaped the explosion. Deidara sighed with frustration and thrusted one of his hands into his bag. He fished it back out and cupped something in both hands. Tobi looked over his shoulder and exclaimed, "That's-!"

There was a large puff of smoke and a large, white dragon had appeared. It wasn't a summon, so what was it? As if in response to Sasuke's thoughts, Tobi announced, "Ta-da! Presenting one of my partner's signature pieces: the C2 Dragon!"

C2? _So he uses explosives_, Sasuke thought. This was not going to be an easy fight. Deidara shouted at Sasuke, "I know all about your Darkness powers, so don't even think of running away into the shadows, hmmm!"

Sasuke's eyes widened. How did he know about the Darkness? Either way, Deidara was smart in catching him in early light. Well, it was about time Sasuke put his hard training to good use.

Deidara looked at his partner, "Tobi, you know what to do, right?

"Yessiree, partner!" Tobi saluted. "As discussed!"

For sure, this was not going to be an easy fight.

* * *

><p>Suigetsu was on his way back from his share of scouting. Actually, he interrogated several people on the whereabouts of Akatsuki. He found out that two people had made dealings with one of the members, but they gave no clue on where Itachi might be. He also found out that they were searching for individuals with special chakra, but this was all general information. Not finding much else, he decided to head over to the rendezvous point.<p>

That was when he saw it: an explosion that reached all the way to the sky. It was so loud that Suigetsu thought his ears were going to burst. His eyes widened as the explosion slowly faded away: that was near their rendezvous point. Out of all his teammates, Sasuke was most likely to be there already. If he was…

"Damn it!" Suigetsu fished out a scroll. It was the scroll to summon Manda, which Sasuke left for him in case of emergencies. If Sasuke was caught in a serious fight in the day, he would most likely summon Manda. The black snake symbol that was on the scroll faded away, which could only mean that Manda was dead. "Just as I feared…" He muttered before running towards the direction of the smoky aftermath of the explosion.

Shortly before he was there, Suigetsu came across a large clearing next to a river. He took out the scroll and unrolled it on the rocky shore. He took out a vial of blood and poured a little on the center of a symbol that was on the scroll. Along with the scroll, Sasuke had also left some of his blood behind so that it could be used to summon Manda or any other snakes. Suigetsu made several hand signs and slapped his hand on the symbol.

In a large puff of smoke, a giant purple snake appeared in the clearing, charred and belly up. Suigetsu marveled at Manda's size as he said to himself, "So this is Orochimaru's familiar, Manda, huh? I know even _he_ had trouble controlling it, so how did Sasuke…?"

He now noticed a Sharingan pattern in Manda's eyes that were now fading away. _He used genjutsu_, Suigetsu thought to himself. He looked to the side and now noticed Sasuke staggering away from Manda. His whole body wobbled and he collapsed on the ground. Surprised to see Sasuke in such bad shape, Suigetsu ran up to him, saying, "Hey! You're hurt! Who were you fighting?"

"You used me…" Manda gave a low hiss. "You hypnotized me…with those eyes… How dare you…?" The light left its eyes and its breathing stopped.

"He died…" Suigetsu muttered before asking, "Wasn't Manda Orochimaru's favorite pet? You really ought to treat animals better and not force genjustu on them."

"I had no choice…" Sasuke said weakly as he managed to sit up. "There was no time."

"There you are!" A familiar voice shouted.

Karin and Jugo arrived at the scene. Karin said, "I thought you might be here! Your chakra signature suddenly vanished! I didn't know what to think! But…I guess you teleported, huh?"

"Wait," Suigetsu realized something as he looked at Sasuke once more, "if you used teleportation to escape, then why are you so beat up?"

Sasuke remembered that Deidara ate some of his explosive clay, with the intention of taking Sasuke with him in his self-destruction. Knowing that he couldn't outrun this big of an explosion, he summoned Manda. Just as they teleported away, Deidara exploded and the blast wave had hit them. Hiding in Manda's shadow, Sasuke was able cover himself in Darkness armor in time. Manda, on the other hand, had no defense against the blast wave.

Upon hearing Sasuke's explanation, Suigetsu now had a better idea on how strong that explosion was. Even after taking cover behind Manda and wearing Darkness armor, Sasuke was still in pretty bad shape. He said, "Whatever, you still need to take a break."

As Suigetsu and Jugo helped Sasuke to his feet, Karin grumbled, "Pathetic! I can't believe you were the one that took down Orochimaru."

"His illness made him weak." Sasuke didn't know why this fact didn't register in Karin's brain.

"Heh," Suigetsu muttered as they started to leave, "and I bet it was dark too."

* * *

><p>The group returned to the inn so they could rest for the remainder of the day. Karin bandaged Sasuke up (and failed to hide her blush) and he was now sitting halfway up in a futon. He was not ready to rest yet, as he had his group assemble around him. He asked his team, "Have you found any leads on Itachi?"<p>

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Karin scolded at him. "You're in no shape for this now!"

"We were able to track down some general info on the Akatsuki," Suigetsu reported, "but nothing directly related to Itachi. It seems like they're targeting certain individuals with special chakra."

Sasuke remembered that Itachi mentioned Akatsuki's interest in Naruto three years ago, that taking him was their top priority. After seeing the NineTails inside Naruto, Sasuke had no doubt that he was one of those individuals with "special chakra".

Sitting next to the open window with a bird on his shoulder, Jugo gave his share of information. "I've been conversing with the animals, and I was able to mark the Akatsuki's hideouts on a map." He stroked the bird's back neck feathers with a single finger. "They say that they sense powerful, unpleasant chakra emanating from those places."

"Wow," Suigetsu seemed genuinely impressed, "so even lowly animals can sense chakra, just like Karin."

"What did you say?" Karin kicked him hard in the face. His head dissolved into water, but then quickly reformed. She tackled him and started punching him, yelling, "That's it, Suigetsu! I've _had_ it with you!"

Sasuke was about to get on to them again, but he sensed that something was wrong. He looked at Jugo and saw that the bird had flown away. Jugo trembled and his eyes widened. As the curse mark started to spread, he snarled at Suigetsu and Karin, "I want to kill you…I don't care which one…"

He roared, and the two ninja immediately stopped fighting. He charged at them both, and they both moved out of the way in time. As they tried to restrain him, Suigetsu exclaimed, "Shit! Jugo's killing impulses have awakened!"

"Sasuke, what are you waiting for?" Karin didn't know how long she and Suigetsu could hold Jugo down.

Sasuke had already activated his Sharingan. He made eye contact with Jugo and focused on suppressing his rage. He said, "Calm down, Jugo."

As quickly as it had risen, the curse mark receded. His whole body trembled and he dropped to his knees. Feeling that he was no longer a threat, Suigetsu and Karin released him. Jugo muttered, "Sorry…"

After using some of his last chakra to calm Jugo, Sasuke felt like he was going to collapse. He leaned back until his head hit his pillow. Everyone turned their heads and saw that Sasuke had fallen asleep. They were about to leave the room when they heard him say, "Wait."

They turned around and saw that Sasuke's eyes were halfway open. He looked at Jugo with a lifeless look to his eyes and told him, "Close the blinds."

Feeling nervous, Jugo quickly walked over to the other side of the room. He shut the window and pulled the blinds all the way down. As he made his way back to the door, Sasuke looked at Suigetsu and commanded, "Get the lights."

Somehow, Sasuke didn't sound right. Everyone tensed up. They all remembered what had happened the last time Sasuke said "Get the lights". After a moment's hesitation, Suigetsu flicked the lights off and exited the room with Jugo. Karin partially slid the door shut before asking, "Sasuke, are you alright?"

With his head in the shadows, Karin could see the yellow glow behind his eyes. He said, "I'm fine, Karin. I just need some rest, that's all." His reassurance sounded fake.

Karin was overcome with a sudden fear. There was no change in Sasuke's chakra, yet he didn't seem like himself. When she didn't shut the door, he narrowed his eyes. Now feeling like she was going to be attacked at any moment, she slammed the door shut and turned around.

Jugo and Suigetsu were staring at her. Feeling like Suigetsu might insult her for her cowardice, she stammered, "U-uh, I have to g-go get s-some more b-bandages. Right _now_!" She ran off down the hallway, almost tripping along the way.

Suigetsu and Jugo didn't know what to think, other than the Darkness was at work somehow. Is the Darkness possessing Sasuke? What was it up to? It didn't show that much aggression; it just wanted to be alone, but for what reason?

They decided that they should keep a careful eye on their leader.

* * *

><p><strong>Eight chapters and still going! Next time, after three years, Sasuke confronts Itachi! This is one fight that I will actually take time to describe!<strong>

***= Deidara lost his arms in the fights with Gaara and Kakashi. Kakuzu may have sewn his arms back on, but he is still mad.**

**I now noticed that the story editor removes extra end marks. Looking over the other chapters, I especially noticed that the extra question mark and two exclamation marks at the end of Kyubi's "AND YOU HAVE THE DAMNED DARKNESS?" sentence were missing. What's up with that?**


	9. Chapter 9:  Sasuke and Itachi

**Nope, I still don't own Kishimoto-san's "Naruto" or Top Cow's "The Darkness".**

**You may have noticed that I'm blending the dialogue from the translated and English versions of "Naruto". I'm using the English manga as a reference, but I will eventually have to use the translated version as a reference, since I don't have the money to buy any more "Naruto" manga.**

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><p>Chapter 9: Sasuke and Itachi<p>

_Dear Shuichi,_

_I am just as surprised as you are to find out that your sons have developed new ocular powers. Truly, they may be the ones to lead our clan to a bright future. I am also saddened to hear of Hanyuu's death. Illness is never a forgiving thing. But right now, there is something that I need to tell you._

_Shuichi, today I killed myself, or I was supposed to anyways. I couldn't take the Darkness anymore, so I went to an open field with the sun over my head and stabbed myself repeatedly with a kunai. The next thing I knew, I was back at the Battle of Getsuei Pass! Corpses of our friends were scattered on the earth, as well as those of the Senju, and our side was losing. I couldn't believe it… this is the same massacre from forty years ago! It was so horrible…I'm pretty sure I went to hell._

_Further away from the battle, on a tall hill, I found men impaled on stone monoliths. They were being tortured by Darklings in various ways, ways which I would rather not describe. With each man I passed by, I heard the Darkness whisper his name. The last man I saw was my father, Ketsueki. Though his legs were being gnawed off by the Darklings, he still laughed and said, "Ah, Kazunori, I'm so glad you're here. Maybe if you ask nicely, these hungry gentlemen will set you up on the stone next to me. We could watch the carnage together from up here, father and son."_

_I told him that it was our family that was being massacred down there, but he didn't care. Just as the Darklings were about to grab me, I heard the Darkness tell them that it wasn't my time yet, and they stopped. I blacked out and I woke up in my cabin. I doubt I was dreaming; everything felt too real. Either way, I now know that I truly cannot die, not unless I impregnate a woman and give my future son the burden of the Darkness, just like my father before me._

_A prayer for you and your sons,_

_Kazunori_

_"Sasukeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"_

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><p>Sasuke woke up and found himself in near darkness. The lights were out, the blinds were shut, and, judging by the lack of a cool breeze, the window was shut. He wiped the sweat off his brow. He knew he had another nightmare, but like all his other nightmares, he couldn't really remember them. This time, however, some names stuck out in his memories: Darkness…Shuichi…Hanyuu…Kazunori…Ketsueki-.<p>

Ketsueki?

Why did that particular name sound so familiar? It took Sasuke a minute to remember that the Nine-Tailed Fox had mentioned that name weeks ago.

"_**DON'T END UP LIKE KETSUEKI…**_" It had said.

Ketsueki…just who was he? Also, he thought he heard a familiar voice screaming his name when he woke up. Looking around, he realized that no one was in the room with him. Sasuke stood up and walked towards the window. When he opened the blinds, a flood of light poured in. The light stung his eyes and he had to shield them with his hand for a few seconds. When he opened the window, he heard the door open behind him. He turned around and saw Suigetsu and Jugo enter the room. They had odd looks on their faces, like they were expecting Sasuke to bite their heads off at any minute.

"You okay?" Suigetsu asked.

Now that he thought about it, Sasuke felt great. Looking outside at the sun, he figured he must have slept a whole day. To make sure, he moved away from the window and asked, "How long was I out?"

"An hour, I guess." Suigetsu shrugged.

"It was thirty-five minutes." Jugo corrected.

"Really? Seemed longer than that."

Sasuke sat crossed legged on his futon and lowered his head. Just thirty-five minutes? It felt like he had been asleep for a whole day. Suigetsu walked up to Sasuke and crouched at eye level. He asked, "You sure you're okay?"

"Is there supposed to be something wrong with me?"

Jugo walked up to the window and leaned against it once more. As if waiting for him, several little birds flew towards him. Some perched on the window's rim while others took their places on his shoulder. He looked at his leader and told him, "You told us to shut the blinds and turn off the lights. You didn't seem like yourself at the time."

"Yeah," Suigetsu stood up, "you even scared Karin out of her wits." He walked over to the opposite wall and leaned against it.

Sasuke didn't remember telling anyone to shut the blinds or turn the lights off. He knew he passed out shortly after using his Sharingan to calm Jugo, but after that…nothing. Well, nothing except for the nightmare that he couldn't really remember. Still, with the idea of blocking or extinguishing all lights, he knew that the Darkness was behind this somehow.

The Darkness.

Now that he actually thought about it, the Darkness sometimes seemed to act on its own accord. In Sasuke's conversation with the NineTails, the Darkness had manifested itself and refused to listen to Sasuke. Also, when he was absorbing Orochimaru, the Darkness had emerged and called Sasuke its puppet. Why?

**Because you **_**are**_** my puppet, Sasuke.**

Sasuke was getting irritated with this dark parasite. He thought to it, _No, I'm the one in control here._

**You **_**need**_** me, Sasuke. You are nothing without me.**

"Sasuke?"

He lifted his head up. Suigetsu was staring at him. He asked, "Is something-?"

"I'm fine." Sasuke wanted to change the topic. "Where's Karin?"

"Her? She said she went to get some bandages, but," he looked at the door, "she's taking too damn long." He turned to Jugo, "Jugo, I'm going to check on Karin." He stood up, "Do me a favor and control yourself."

"Yeah," Jugo answered absent-mindedly, "no problem." Most of his attention was on the birds.

However, just as Suigetsu was about to head out, the door slammed open and Karin stepped in, yelling, "Wake up, Sasuke!"

Seeing that he was already awake, she went on, "Company's coming this way."

Sasuke stood up and told everyone, "Get ready. We're leaving."

As Sasuke outfitted himself, the group went over the possibilities of their trackers. According to Karin, their pursuers were moving in large groups, and they have dogs with them. It wasn't hard for Sasuke to figure out that it was the Leaf that was tracking them down. The Leaf used ninja hounds for tracking, and besides, Akatsuki moved in pairs, not groups. Sasuke did not want to deal with the Leaf, not when Team Hebi was so close to finding Itachi.

Meanwhile, Karin pulled Jugo aside. Karin had already formed a plan to throw off the Leaf pursuers. She planned to cut some of Sasuke's old clothes into pieces and, if Jugo could summon enough birds, have them carry those pieces into different directions. As they talked, Sasuke looked over the map where Jugo had marked the Akatsuki's hideouts.

His plan was to hit the hideouts one by one, until they found someone of the Akatsuki or, if they're lucky, Itachi himself. He studied the map and formed a path that they would follow. He looked at his team and, seeing that they looked ready, told them, "Let's go."

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><p>Hours have passed, and Team Hebi had already reached the first hideout. The cave entrance was marked by a little stone Buddhist statue, long weathered away by time and rain. Karin peered inside and said, "I can't sense anyone inside."<p>

Nevertheless, Sasuke still wanted to investigate, and he felt like he should do it on his own. He looked to his team and said, "You wait here until I give the order. I'm going to take a look."

"But what if someone _does_ come?" Karin asked.

"Relax," Suigetsu said to her, "Sasuke has the Darkness…" His voice trailed off, "…remember?"

Yes, Sasuke thought to himself as he entered the cave, he did have the Darkness, but what if it didn't listen to him again? As he was cloaked in the shadows, he knew that he would have to exert more willpower over it, to let it know just who was in control. His eyes glowed a slight yellow and he could see everything in the cave, which was in fact, nothing.

Nothing except for a person in the middle of the cavern, that is.

He wore an Akatsuki cloak and he had a crow perched on his shoulder. He stared at Sasuke with all too familiar eyes. The Sharingan pattern became visible behind the yellow glow of Sasuke's eyes as he glared back at his most hated enemy. He snarled, "You."

"Me." Itachi answered back.

Finally, after three years, the two brothers once again met face to face, eye to eye. Unlike last time, however, Sasuke was much stronger and he had more techniques at hand. Itachi looked his little brother over and saw that he had changed greatly over the past three years. He had grown taller, yes, and he had a more mature look to his face, but the hatred for his brother had not wavered one bit. He also couldn't help but notice that Sasuke seemed to radiate an inhuman and dark aura.

Sasuke, in turn, looked over Itachi and said, "You haven't changed at all."

His brother's eyes still had that cold look from the night he killed the whole Uchiha clan. Itachi asked, "You're not going to just go crazy and charge at me like last time, are you?"

Three years ago, Sasuke had confronted his brother and, in a state of blind rage, charged head first at him. Itachi took him down with ease and, adding insult to injury, cast the Tsukuyomi on him, forcing him to relive that horrible night over and over again. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and said, "You know nothing about me."

In a second, four tendrils shot out of the ground and wrapped themselves around Itachi's limbs. Startled, the crow on his shoulder let out a panicked caw and flew off. The tendrils tightened around Itachi and pulled him down, forcing him on his hands and knees. Sasuke knew that a quick beheading or heart-piercing would do the job, but he wanted his brother to suffer, to experience these years of hatred firsthand.

"You're weak." Itachi muttered.

Sasuke's glare intensified. He had the Darkness, yet Itachi had the nerve to tell him that he was weak? Sasuke walked up to his brother and punched him hard in the face. He shouted at him, "I am not weak!" He punched him again. "I'm not the coward I used to be!"

After receiving a third punch, Itachi lifted his head up and asked, "Have you been relying on the Darkness this whole time?"

First that Deidara guy, now Itachi; how did they know about the Darkness? If Itachi knew about the Darkness, then he would know its weakness too. However, it didn't matter now, as he was about to die within a few seconds. Having enough of his brother's insults, Sasuke had the tendrils tighten around Itachi's limbs until they snapped off.

However, instead of blood gushing out of his wounds, his whole body dissolved into a black mass. The mass broke off into pieces, which in turn turned into a whole flock of crows. They all flew up and circled around a stunned Sasuke, cawing all the while. As black feathers rained down, he could hear Itachi's disembodied voice echo throughout the whole cave.

"Meet me at the old Uchiha hideout, alone." The voice said. "We'll settle things there, but only if you fight me with your own strength."

All the crows vanished in a flurry of black feathers and their cries died down. Upset that he had only faced a clone, Sasuke had the tendrils retract back into the ground. He heard footsteps and he turned around to see his team join his side. Frustrated that they had disobeyed his order, he told them, "I thought I told you all not to move until I gave the word."

"Karin said she sensed another chakra here, and we became worried." Suigetsu briefly explained.

Karin looked at the slow downfall of feathers in surprise. But before she could ask, Sasuke told everyone, "Follow me, we're leaving."

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><p>Outside of the Leaf Village, the Uchiha had only one hideout (not counting Nekobaa's shop in the abandoned warehouse), so Sasuke knew just where to go. He told his team that he knew where Itachi was, but he would not say where. Knowing his team for only a short while, he figured that they would want to go with him and fight Itachi together.<p>

However, this was Sasuke's fight, and no one else's.

Baited by Itachi's words, he did feel like he might be relying on the Darkness a bit too much. It was only in the daylight did he use his own jutsu. He had already decided what to do: he would kill Itachi by himself, without anyone or anything helping him.

As he and his team were dashing through the trees on their way to their destination, Sasuke could feel the Darkness's agitation.

**You're making a mistake.**

_If he knows about you,_ Sasuke thought back to it, _then he will use the light to his advantage._

**That's not your excuse. You wanted me, and now you don't want to use me?**

_I can't rely on you all the time._

**Even after he killed your entire family, you still listen to his words. Face it, you don't stand a chance against him without me.**

Sasuke was getting irritated. _I _can_ kill him without you, you'll see!_

**Go ahead and try, Sasuke, but he will prove you wrong.**

Sasuke would make _sure_ that he would prove the Darkness wrong. He heard Karin speak up, "I sense a large quantity of the same chakra! What's going on?"

Suigetsu looked at Sasuke and asked, "Should we change course?"

Sasuke couldn't be stopped now. He answered, "Just ignore it. Keep moving."

Suigetsu seemed satisfied with that answer. Karin called out, "Incoming!"

To both Sasuke's surprise and annoyance, he saw a familiar ninja running directly at him. He was the same orange-clad shinobi that he came to despise, except he was wearing a white cloak around his shoulders in contrast to Sasuke's black cloak. Sasuke did not hesitate for a second as he charged his arm with lightning chakra and ran his Chidori right through the ninja that blocked his path.

"Sasuke!" Naruto managed to call out before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Even after taking the shadow clone down, Sasuke and his team kept moving. Karin turned her head to the fading puff of smoke and muttered, "The hell?"

"A shadow clone, huh?" Suigetsu gritted his teeth.

"Naruto…" Sasuke sighed. He thought to himself, _That annoying brat. _If there was one Naruto clone, then there were several dozen more that were seeking him.

So the Leaf really was trying to track him down. Well, it didn't really matter now, since they were almost there. The team was approaching some ruined buildings, which used to be a part of the old Uchiha hideout before past battles have taken their toll on them, and Sasuke had a strong feeling that Itachi was not that far away.

Karin piped up, "There's a humongous amount of chakra up ahead, and it's moving _fast_!"

A figure landed in front of the group and everyone skidded to a halt. Though he wore an Akatsuki cloak, he was not Itachi. The man that stood before them had pale blue skin and blue hair that was swept back. He had what looked like gills under his eyes and sharp teeth to match the bloodlust he was radiating. Shark-like characteristics aside, the one thing that stood out the most was the giant, bandage-wrapped sword he wielded. Even after seeing him three years ago, Sasuke still recognized him as Itachi's partner, Kisame Hoshigaki.

Suigetsu's eyes widened with recognition as he said with surprise, "You're…!"

"Sorry," Kisame said with his shark-like grin, "only Sasuke allowed past this point; Itachi's orders.

Sasuke stepped forward, "We were only moving in a group to prevent interference, so that's fine with me."

"Don't do this Sasuke!" Karin tugged at his arm. "Let's take him down and go in together!"

"I have no interest in fighting you," Kisame lied, "but if you insist on forcing your way past me, then I might as well cut you to pieces."

"Karin," Sasuke pulled his arm out of her grasp, "and the rest of you, wait here. This is _my_ fight."

With that said, he dashed past Kisame and continued onward by himself. Up ahead, he could see a large hill and, on top of it, the meeting area of the old hideout. He didn't bother taking the normal path, deciding instead to scale up the rocky side of the hill as a means of taking a shortcut. He easily reached the top and proceeded to enter the dome-shaped building.

The singular room was dim, being only slightly illuminated by the sunlight pouring in from the entrance. It was empty save for two things. One was a mural on the back wall that depicted nine long swirls that looked like tails. In the middle of the nine swirls was the symbol for "fox". The other thing was a stone carved throne and, sitting in it, Itachi.

Sasuke remembered what he had said to the Darkness, and he had to consciously remove the yellow glow from his eyes. In the dark, only the Sharingan pattern in his eyes could be seen. Itachi looked at his younger brother with the same eyes and asked, "How much can you actually see with those eyes?"

"How much can I see with these?" Sasuke felt like his brother was mocking him. He took a step forward and answered, "What I'm seeing right now…is you, dead at my feet!"

Itachi didn't seem fazed by his words. He blinked slowly and asked, "Little brother, can you really fight me without the Darkness, or can't you fight anyone without it?"

"I'm not the weak little brother you used to know."

"Well then," his brother's voice said from behind him, "let's get right to it."

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><p><strong>Cliffhanger! Next time, the actual fight between Sasuke and Itachi takes place, though they will be doing more talking than fighting in the next chapter. Can Sasuke kill his brother without the help of the Darkness? I can't wait, and I know you can't either!<strong>

**Thanksgiving is close at hand, so…what am I thankful for? I'm thankful for my family, friends, and (re)viewers like you who take the time to read this fanfiction. Thank you (lame PBS reference, but oh well).**

**Anyways, because of the Thanksgiving holidays, I will be taking about a week's break on this story. See you later!**


	10. Chapter 10:  Eye for an Eye

**Insert funny disclaimer relating to Kishimoto-san's "Naruto" and Top Cow's "The Darkness" here: _**

**Though I have given the blood and gore warning at the first chapter, I will remind you, again, that reader discression is advised. I say this once more because there will be scenes in certain chapters (like this one) that will contain content that may be squeamish to many people. Also, there will be more strong language.**

**Text Guide 5:**

**In extreme anger, fear, or excitement: **I'msopanicky,angry,andexcitedatthesametimeyoucan'tunderstandwhatI'msaying!

**Another action scene… Well, here I go!**

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><p>Chapter 10- Eye for an Eye<p>

Sasuke quickly turned around and drew his sword to attack Itachi. His brother, expecting something like this to happen, quickly took out a kunai and blocked him with it. Knowing that his kunai would not hold out for long against Sasuke's sword, Itachi shoved his elbow into his brother's diaphragm, knocking the wind out of him. He used this chance to flip over him and, on his way back down, he grabbed him by the cloak. When he landed, he threw Sasuke forward, causing Sasuke to skid on his back for a few feet.

Sasuke got to his feet and weaved some hand signs. His arm cackled with lightning chakra and he charged at his brother. In an attempt to distract him, Sasuke stopped and slammed his hand on the ground, causing a Chidori Stream to flow from his hand to the ground. As the stream darted towards him, Itachi jumped up in the air to dodge it.

Seeing that his distraction worked, Sasuke jumped after his brother and plunged his sword in the middle of his chest. The two brothers fell on the ground and Sasuke glared down at his brother. Looking into his brother's eyes, he remembered his last words to him on the night of the Uchiha massacre.

_"In the Nanako Shrine's main hall," _Itachi had said to him years ago, _"under the seventh tatami mat from the far right, there is a secret meeting place for our clan. There is a reason we Uchiha have ocular jutsu, and the truth is written there. If you do obtain the Mangekyo Sharingan, then there will be three alive who have it. If that does happen, then I will be right in letting you live."_

"You _have_ gotten stronger…" Itachi said weakly.

"Itachi," Sasuke said slowly, "there is one last thing I have to ask."

Itachi slowly raised his hand and pointed to the back of the room. Sasuke turned his head to face the throne and saw Itachi sitting in it, as if nothing had happened. He looked back at the "Itachi" he had just pierced. The brother on the ground lowered his eyes and his form dissolved into a flock of crows, which then vanished in a flurry of black feathers. Sasuke locked eyes with his brother and decided to try genjutsu.

Itachi asked him, "So, what do you want to know? It's not the 'last thing', but you can ask."

"Let me try this again…" Sasuke began.

Itachi felt something pierce his body. He looked down and saw that a Chidori-charged sword had pierced him from behind. He turned his head slightly and he could somewhat see Sasuke standing behind the throne. He looked back at the "Sasuke" in front of him and saw that his form had already dissolved into many snakes, with them already vanishing in many puffs of smoke.

Itachi coughed up blood and muttered, "Genjutsu…"

"I have one last thing to ask you," Sasuke gritted his teeth, "you miserable fuck! You better answer my question, or else the pain in your chest will continue to grow."

Itachi looked back down at the sword and noted, "You deliberately missed a vital spot."

"Who else has the Mangekyo Sharingan?" Sasuke demanded. "Who is the third living Uchiha?"

Itachi tensed. He cautiously asked, "Why do you even have concerns about him?"

"After I kill you, I'm going to kill him."

"Why?"

"Back when you killed our clan, you mentioned the existence of another. Even with your abilities, you couldn't have possibly killed everyone by yourself, so you had someone help you."

"So…you noticed."

"Who is it?"

Itachi paused before answering, "Madara Uchiha."

The first thing that came to Sasuke's mind was one of the last things the NineTails had said to him.

_**"YOUR OCULAR POWERS AND THAT VILE CHAKRA YOU EXUDE…YOU REMIND ME OF MADARA UCHIHA."**_

"He is one of the founders of the Leaf Village," Itachi went on, "and he is the man who first awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan."

"Founder?" Sasuke could not believe what he was hearing. "Then how can he be alive? Are you fucking with me?"

"Madara is alive," Itachi simply said, "whether you want to believe me or not is your choice."

Sasuke plunged his sword deeper into his brother and yelled, "Stop fucking around!"

Itachi, unfazed by his little brother's angry outbursts, explained, "Every single one of us goes through life depending on and bound by our individual knowledge and awareness, and we call it reality. However, both knowledge and awareness are equivocal. One's reality could be just another's illusion. We all live inside our own fantasies," he moved his head so that he could look at his little brother, "don't you think?"

"Just what are you trying to say?" Sasuke asked.

"That you thinking that Madara is dead is just your arbitrary assumption, just like how you used to think that I was you kind and gentle older brother."

Memories flooded Sasuke's mind; memories of all the good times he had with his brother when he was younger. He remembered how Itachi used to help him train, and how he was always supportive of him. Back then, he was the best brother in the world. He remembered Itachi's old smile, then remembered the corpses of his family that littered the streets. He remembered how his brother stood over the corpses of their mother and father with that cold look in his eyes. Pain overwhelmed him, and he could feel the Darkness reveling in it.

"The events of that night…" Sasuke held back his tears, "the young me at first could only comprehend and process it as a mirage. I desperately wanted to believe that I was trapped in a horrible genjutsu, but…" He could sense that someone was behind him, and he focused lightning chakra to his spare hand. "There was no mistaking it: I was trapped in reality!"

Sasuke turned around and fired a Chidori spear. It pierced Itachi, who was sitting in the throne facing him. Sasuke didn't have to turn around to know that the "Itachi" he had pierced his sword with was just another illusion. He said to his brother, "My eyes are not the same as they were before! My Sharingan can see through all your genjustu!"

"Heh," Itachi did not seem impressed, "bullish words as always. Well, I'll accept those words for now at least."

Sasuke now saw that his brother was also using genjutsu on him. He snapped at Itachi, "I've had enough of your parlor tricks."

"But Sasuke," Itachi pointed out, "it seems that you still don't have the same eyes as I do."

Sasuke remembered his brother's simple instruction for getting the Mangekyo Sharingan: kill the one closest to you. Itachi had expected him to acquire the ability so that he would have the power to at least stand up against him. Years ago, Sasuke spared Naruto on a whim, so he missed his chance the first time. Weeks ago, he would have killed him, if Orochimaru had not interfered. Now, Sasuke had to face Itachi without the Mangekyo Sharingan and, of his own choice, the Darkness.

Dispersing the Chidori spear and sheathing his sword, Sasuke asked cockily, "Then hurry up and use the Mangekyo Sharingan to kill me! Or," he tilted his head to the side, "am I too strong now for you to measure your capacity against mine?"

"What impressive confidence…" Itachi slowly stood up. He eyed his little brother and pointed out, "You know, the Mangekyo Sharingan are _very_ special eyes."

Sasuke had to wonder what his brother was trying to say _now_. Itachi went on, "From the moment they awaken, they continuously progress towards darkness, and the more you use them, the quicker they become sealed."

"What are you trying to say?" Sasuke asked.

"That the Mangekyo…eventually lose their sight."

Sasuke thought back to Itachi's instructions to go to the secret meeting place at Nanako Shrine. Down below, he found a tablet with writings that were mostly illegible. With his (at the time) newly formed Sharingan, Sasuke could only read a few sentences. Those few sentences, in brief, explained the conditions for achieving the Mangekyo Sharingan and how they would eventually lose their sight. It also described how one member of the Uchiha was able to control the Nine-Tailed Fox using this newfound power. Sasuke said slowly, "Blindness…that's the price to pay for obtaining the power to control the NineTails."

"Good," Itachi took a step forward, "it seems you followed my instructions after all. The Mangekyo Sharingan _can_ control the NineTails, and Madara was the first man to do this."

"Madara…" Sasuke paused, "just who and _what_ is he?"

"He is an immortal man who is both my comrade and mentor, and he is the exceptional individual that uncovered the one other secret of the Mangekyo Sharingan." The black tomoe***** of his Sharingan rotated inwards toward the pupils of Itachi's eyes. The "heads" of the tomoe merged with the pupils while the "tails" stretched until they touched the outer rims of the red irises. "_That_," Itachi concluded, "is Madara Uchiha."

Sasuke tensed at the presence of his brother's Mangekyo Sharingan. He cautiously asked, "What is the other secret of the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

**What are you waiting for, Sasuke? Aren't you going to kill him?**

"This one other secret," Itachi said slowly, "is actually the most crucial one."

"Well, what is it?"

The whole room became pitch black and, without his Darkness vision, Sasuke could only see Itachi's eyes. His brother's voice echoed, "Let me start off with some old tales, particularly about the history of the Uchiha. You see, Madara happened to have a sibling, a younger brother in fact."

Itachi vanished and a new scene appeared in place of the darkness. It was outdoors, with two young Uchiha boys sparring with each other, both oblivious to Sasuke's presence. One boy had long, spiky black hair and a rough looking face. The other had his black hair in a long ponytail, and he had a face that looked almost exactly like Sasuke's. Upon setting his eyes on this lookalike, Sasuke could feel a sudden outburst of anger from the Darkness.

_**HIM!**_** DamnhimdamnhimdamnhimDAMNHIM!**

Sasuke had never felt this much anger from the Darkness before. He could feel it clawing at his heart and mind, trying to break free, wanting to tear his lookalike to shreds. Sasuke gritted his teeth and had to use all of his willpower to keep the Darkness from bursting out of his body. Gradually, the anger died down, and Sasuke let out an exhausted sigh.

"From when they were children," Itachi's voice seemed to echo everywhere at once, "the two constantly tested and honed their skills against each other…"

He went on to explain how they eventually obtained their Sharingan and, to the clan's surprise, the Mangekyo Sharingan. As he spoke, the imagery kept changing to match his words. The boys became men and, after obtaining their Mangekyo Sharingan, great leaders of the Uchiha clan. However, Madara, having used his Mangekyo too many times, was slowly starting to lose his eyesight. He tried everything to regain his sight, but to no avail. Then, one day, out of desperation, he cornered his younger brother.

Sasuke watched as Madara pinned his lookalike against a wall. With one shaky hand, he reached forward and pressed three of his fingers around his younger brother's left eye. Sasuke wanted to turn away, but he couldn't. He could only stand frozen in place and watch as Madara plucked his brother's eyes out one by one. All the while, the brother never stopped screaming.

When the screams did die down, the voice of Itachi explained that, in stealing and transplanting his brother's eyes, Madara regained his sight, and never lost it again. With the corneas***** of his brother's eyes, he was able to obtain a Sharingan one step above the Mangekyo, the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

With the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, he gained new powers, and he never lost his eyesight again. He conquered other clans and eventually allied with the Senju clan to form the village that would be known as the Leaf. He fought the First Hokage for control of the Leaf, but failed. He left and hid in the shadows, all the while forming the organization that would later be known as the Akatsuki. Years later, he seized control of the Nine-Tailed Fox and used it to attack the Leaf Village. Once again, he was stopped, but by the Fourth Hokage that time.

The next thing Sasuke knew, he was back in the old Uchiha meeting place. Still facing him was Itachi, who concluded, "In short, Madara is a bitter, defeated dog who is not worthy or capable of grasping Uchiha's true greatness." He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. "I am the one who will surpass Madara and become the ultimate shinobi…and now, I can finally obtain the power that exceeds Madara's!"

Something about Itachi seemed different. There was a more menacing aura surrounding him and he had a hungry look to his Mangekyo Sharingan eyes. His eyes seemed to pierce though Sasuke's very being as he shouted, "Sasuke! _You_ are my new light!"

A vision of a large demon's face appeared behind Itachi. It had giant, fanged teeth and four eye sockets. Two of them had Sharingan eyes while the other two were empty. Sasuke felt sick to his stomach at Itachi's words. Itachi nearly screamed at him, "You are my spare eyes!"

The demon's hair grew and wrapped itself around Sasuke. He could have easily broken free, but he was too frightened to move. Itachi went on, "From the very beginning, it took killing a friend for the Uchiha clan to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan and killing a blood relative to obtain eternal ocular powers! We are from a defiled bloodline that has flaunted its strength in such a manner throughout the ages!"

The hair branched off so that it formed claw-like fingers. It raised itself in front of Sasuke's face and reached for his eye.

"From the time you were born into this clan, you too were entwined in its blood-soaked destiny! Now come, my little brother! I shall kill you to obtain true ocular transformation and finally be freed from our clan's fate! All this time, we have been each other's spares! This is the _true_ bond between brothers of the Uchiha!"

_This can't be happening_, Sasuke's panicked thoughts buzzed in his head, _it's just a genjutsu, only a genjutsu!_ Sasuke's Sharingan glared at Itachi's and the demon vanished without a trace. Inside, Sasuke was shaken at his brother's words. Was this really the reason Itachi spared him, so that he could take his eyes? Sasuke removed his cloak and tossed it to the side. He couldn't hold anything back anymore. Itachi, calm once more, said, "It seems you were able to see my internal self."

"So it was all for this, eh?" Sasuke tried to act tough. He couldn't afford to show weakness to his brother, not now. "This is it then: the end of my journey."

"You say you see me dead at your feet, but you cannot win against my Mangekyo. Your goal will end in a fantasy, for you do not possess the Mangekyo."

Sasuke unwrapped the bandages that he had around his wrists, revealing weapon-summoning tags that were also wrapped around his wrists. He said, "No matter how much you use those eyes of yours, I'll use my hatred to turn fantasy into reality. Any your reality, Itachi, is death!"

His fingers struck against the tags like matches against a box and shuriken appeared in his hands. He threw them, struck the tags again, and kept repeating the process, all at incredible speed. Itachi countered by drawing shuriken from his sleeves and throwing them at Sasuke. Each shuriken hit each other instead of their respective targets. The frenzy of shuriken throwing, and the continuous clang of metal against metal, lasted for a whole minute without any successful results.

Somewhere in that flurry of shuriken, both brothers charged at each other, Sasuke with his sword and Itachi with a kunai. Itachi, knowing that directly blocking the sword wouldn't do any good, instead grabbed Sasuke's wrists just as he was about to strike him down. In the earlier flurry, he had time to weave signs for a shadow clone, which now appeared at his side. The clone threw several kunai at Sasuke.

In response to the surprise attack, Sasuke's curse mark began to burn and a white snake rose out of his shoulder and wrapped itself protectively around its master. After taking the full blow of the kunai, it lunged at the real Itachi, and he had no choice but to release Sasuke. Sasuke jumped back and the snake detached itself from him, vanishing in a puff of smoke. He took out an extra-large shuriken, a Demon Wind Shuriken, and, after charging it with lightning chakra, threw it at Itachi.

The clone took out a kunai and blocked the blow from its original. The electricity charged shuriken cut through both kunai and clone without much effort. The clone dispersed into another flock of crows, then into another flurry of black feathers. Itachi used this chance to charge at Sasuke and push him against the nearest wall. Sasuke charged his hand with lightning chakra in an attempt to use a Chidori, but Itachi grabbed his wrist and held it against the wall. He also stomped on both of Sasuke's feet, so that he couldn't move. Sasuke tried to break free, but Itachi stopped him by punching him in the gut.

Sasuke lowered his head and gasped as the wind was knocked out of him. When he lifted his head back up, he saw Itachi's spare hand reach out for his left eye, with his thumb, index, and middle fingers slightly twitching. True, Sasuke had a spare hand in which he could do a counterattack, but at that moment, he was too petrified to do anything. He could only gasp in short, panicked breaths as the fingers pressed themselves around his eye, the index and middle fingers above and the thumb below. At that moment, Sasuke's thoughts became frantic.

_No! Nononononononononononono! This can't be happening thiscan'tbehappeningTHISCAN'TBEHAPPENING!_

"Forgive me Sasuke." Itachi muttered as he pressed his fingers harder.

Sasuke decided at that point to break the deal he made with the Darkness earlier. He would let it brag on how it was right all this time later, but now, he couldn't let Itachi pluck his eyes out. He tried to summon something, _anything_, to stop his brother, but nothing manifested. He thought to the Darkness, _Why won't you appear?_

**Hmm, didn't you say that you could kill Itachi without my help?**

_Okay, fine! You were right all along, just stop him!_

**Sorry Sasuke, but you're on your own here.**

All hope had left Sasuke. He hadn't felt this powerless since the night of the massacre. He could only tremble in fear as Itachi said to him, "This is my reality. Now, give me your light!"

His fingers dug into Sasuke's eye socket and wrapped themselves around his eye. All Sasuke could do was scream as his eye almost seemed to pop out into Itachi's palm. Itachi released him and he dropped to his knees. He instinctively covered his left eye socket and he could feel the blood dripping on his hand. Inside, he felt the Darkness enjoying every long, agonizing second of his pain.

"I told you," he heard Itachi say, "you won't win. I have the Mangekyo and you do not."

Sasuke shuddered and lowered his hand. Blood had soaked his palm and he felt sickness overwhelm him. Not truly believing what had just happened, he closed his right eye, just to see if his other one was truly gone. When he did, he saw nothing. It was true then: Itachi had plucked Sasuke's eye right out of his skull.

"Now for the other one…" Itachi's voice seemed to chill the very air around them.

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><p><strong>Eeep! Itachi took Sasuke's eye! No matter how many times I read this part in the manga, it always makes me feel sick. Next time, the fight continues. Does Sasuke have any chance of winning? Will Itachi take his other eye? Find out next time!<strong>

***= Tomoe are the comma-shaped symbols in the Chinese Yin and Yang. They have their own meaning in Japan, but I cannot recall what it is at the top of my head.**

***= Keratoplasty is the surgery to transplant one person's cornea into another's eye. This surgery is used to restore the host's eyesight, should blindness occur. In the real world, it is not possible to transplant eyeballs, as there is no means to reconnect the optical nerves to the donor's eye. For all we know, it might be possible in the "Naruto" universe, but I am not taking that chance (even Tsunade said that there is only so much medical ninjutsu can do).**

**With the Thanksgiving holidays over, I now cannot wait for Christmas. What do I want for Christmas? Well… I would like: video games, an anime DVD or two, and gift card for books with some chocolate on the side! Most of all though, I want Christmas break for Christmas so that I can relax, play games, and write fanfiction in the comfort of my home.**


	11. Chapter 11:  Coup de Grace

**If I had a nickel for every disclaimer I make (including this one), then I will have fifty-five cents.**

**In case anyone is wondering if I'm going to follow the canon story of "Naruto" to the very end, I will go ahead and say, "Yes, I am." I plan to follow the canon with moments and (eventually) one or two big scenes with the Darkness. Once I'm caught up with the canon, I'll break away from it and come up with an ending of my own. That, readers, is my plan of action.**

**One more note: there is a little more action in this chapter. It is one thing to turn words into pictures, but turning pictures into words is something else altogether (action scenes especially). Not only am I trying to word every movement and technique, but I am also trying to incorporate emotion and inner thoughts that were originally unworded. In short, please bear with me on these kinds of scenes.**

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><p>Chapter 11- Coup de Grace<p>

No. Sasuke couldn't lose his other eye. His combined fear and anger caused the curse mark to spread throughout his whole body. He transformed into his second state and shoved Itachi away with his wing. Itachi skidded back on his feet and stopped just short of the back wall. He took out a small glass jar filled with orange liquid (though Sasuke didn't know where he pulled it out from) and dropped Sasuke's eye in it. The eye bobbed up and down a few times before it looked directly at Sasuke's other eye, almost like it was yearning to be reunited with its twin companion.

"This is the variance in our strengths." Itachi said as he secured the lid on the jar.

"This is the difference between your ocular powers and mine." A familiar voice spoke from behind Sasuke.

Someone grabbed Sasuke's arms and pulled him against the wall. Sasuke didn't have to turn around to know that a shadow clone was restraining him. He struggled and pulled, but it was all in vain. The real Itachi walked up to him and, after putting away the jar, reached for Sasuke's other eye with his blood-stained fingers. Sasuke still struggled and tried to turn his head away from his brother. If he were to lose his other eye…

No! He didn't want to think about it. Once again, he tried manifesting the Darkness in some form or another, but nothing appeared.

**Do you really want my help that bad?**

Once more, Itachi's bloodied fingers pressed themselves around and against Sasuke's remaining eye. Sasuke gasped in many, quick breaths close to the point of hyperventilation. He heard the Darkness chuckle in his head, clearly enjoying his fear.

**Maybe if you beg, I'll forgive you.**

Beg? Under normal circumstances, Sasuke would not do such a thing, but in his moment of helplessness, he was actually considering it. As he felt his brother's fingers press harder into his eye socket, Sasuke barely whispered, "Please…"

Hundreds of black tendrils rose up from Itachi and wrapped themselves around his limbs. As they yanked him away from their master, the familiar twin demon snakes erupted out of his shoulders and tore the shadow clone's arms off. The clone turned into another flock of crows and flurry of feathers as Sasuke walked towards Itachi.

Yellow light flooded his empty eye socket and Sasuke was able to see through it again, though he knew he wasn't looking with his real eye. Darkness armor covered his body and, to Itachi, he looked like an armored demon from Hell. Sasuke willed the tendrils to release Itachi, and they did just. He grabbed his older brother by the throat and, with enhanced strength from the Darkness, lifted him high up into the air.

"Now you die!" Sasuke yelled as he tightened his grip.

**If only this was real, Sasuke.**

Sasuke's real eye widened. All this time…he was in _another_ genjutsu? He glared at his brother with his one Sharingan eye and focused on breaking the illusion.

Everything around Sasuke shattered like a fallen pane of glass. The next thing he knew, all traces of the Darkness had vanished from the room and he was back to staring at Itachi, who was now covering his left eye with his hand. Sasuke let out a shaken sigh of relief when he realized that he could see through both eyes once more.

Still covering his left eye, Itachi looked like he was in pain. Between exhausted pants, he exclaimed, "You…broke through my Tsukuyomi?"

"I thought I told you," Sasuke said, "no matter how much you use those eyes of yours, I'll use my hatred-."

"You didn't use your hatred, Sasuke, you used the Darkness."

Sasuke thought back. He did whisper "please" to the Darkness, but he really felt like he was begging for its help at the time. He cursed himself for falling to such a low level. If he knew he was in a genjutsu this whole time, he wouldn't have…begged…for the Darkness's help.

"I guess it doesn't matter if you use the Darkness or not anymore." Itachi weaved some hand signs. "In the end, you're as damned as the others." He inhaled deeply.

Sasuke knew what was coming. He ran at Itachi, charging his arm with lightning chakra along the way. Itachi jumped up and, just as he was about to exhale, Sasuke jumped up at him and hit him with a Chidori-charged uppercut. Itachi crashed up the ceiling, leaving a hole and letting sunlight pour into the room. Sasuke jumped up through the hole and he found himself outside.

The only thing that was on the roof of the old meeting place was a tall monolith with the Uchiha crest on it. Other than that, only forests could be seen surrounding the area. On the opposite end of the roof was Itachi, who was once again weaving hand signs, and Sasuke quickly mimicked him. They both inhaled, then exhaled at the same time.

They each breathed out a large fireball that clashed with each other. The heat quickly became unbearable, but both brothers stood their ground. Then, without warning, Itachi stopped his Fireball technique and black flames engulfed Sasuke's own fireball. Quickly realizing that these flames weren't ordinary, Sasuke stopped his technique and ran from the incoming black wave of fire. He could sense anger from the Darkness…as well as fear.

**He intends to kill us both.**

Sasuke kept running a ring around the roof. He was fleeing from the fire, yet he was also trying to move back towards Itachi. During his run, he couldn't help but notice that the fire was igniting the trees, and he was amazed at this jutsu's range. It was almost like Itachi could set things on fire just by looking at them.

But just as Sasuke was getting close to his brother, the fire brushed against his shoulders and his whole body was engulfed in black flames. He hollered in pain, tripped, and fell face first. However, for some reason, as soon as he fell, the flames extinguished themselves. A shadow fell on him and Sasuke lifted his head up slightly.

Standing over him was Itachi, but for some reason, blood was pouring out of his right eye. In addition to the blood, he also looked like he was more fatigued. Itachi asked, "That's it? I figured it would take more than the Amaterasu to take you down." He crouched down. "You saw me gouge out your eyes in the Tsukuyomi, but now," he reached his hand towards Sasuke's face, "I intend to make that a reality."

Sasuke thought fast and looked at his brother's shadow that had fallen over him. Before Itachi could reach for Sasuke's eyes, the shadow began to bubble. Sasuke gave a small smirk as he sank into the shadow like quicksand.

Back inside the room, a portion of the ceiling began to bubble. Sasuke dropped from the ceiling and landed on his feet, but in his weakened state, he had almost lost his balance. In the remaining darkness in the room, shadows gathered around Sasuke and enveloped him like a fog. He could feel the fog caress and heal the burns he had suffered from that last attack. As the pain died down, he looked at the earlier opening in the ceiling and devised a plan to finish off Itachi once and for all.

Now that there was an opening outside, he could finish off Itachi with his most powerful jutsu: the Kirin. The only problem was that Sasuke had to channel actual lightning from the sky in order to use the Kirin, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky today. In that case, he would make it thunder.

Sasuke walked into the light, and the fog that surrounded him vanished. He looked up at the opening and wove several hand signs. Outside, he saw Itachi poke his head over the opening to see if his little brother was in the room. Sasuke couldn't have timed it better as he breathed out multiple shots of fire that took the form of dragon heads.

Back outside, Itachi managed to jump away from the sudden barrage of fireballs. He stood a distance away as he watched the shots of fire ascend towards the sky. Weakness overcame him and he dropped to his knees. As he covered his bleeding right eye, he heard his brother say, "That Amaterasu took a lot out of you."

Sasuke stood before his brother, and looked him over. Itachi looked like he was in a lot of pain, but Sasuke could tell that he still had the strength to fight. Sasuke, on the other hand, had used up almost all of his chakra on the Art of the Dragon Flame jutsu. He confessed, "This will probably be my last jutsu…"

"Stop bluffing," Itachi uncovered his eye, "the Sharingan can assess chakra, and you don't have enough for another jutsu."

"Yeah, I used it all on that last fire style jutsu, but," dark clouds began forming at an alarmingly fast rate, "do you really think I would come here to kill you unprepared? This last jutsu lasts for an instant, and it cannot be blocked _or_ evaded."

Rain began to fall. Curious, Itachi had to ask, "What is it?"

A bright flash lit up the clouds and there was a loud thunderclap. Itachi now saw that Sasuke's fire style jutsu had heated up the air and caused thunderclouds to form. Looking around now, he now noticed that his Amaterasu, which was still burning the trees, was contributing to the rise in air temperature. Sasuke had wanted thunderclouds to form this whole time…but why?

Sasuke jumped back and ran up the tall monolith that was on the roof. From there, he had an even better view of his surroundings, and at the speck on the roof that was Itachi. He raised his voice so that his brother could hear him, "This justu guides the lightning down from the heavens, and I can direct that power anywhere I want." He raised his hand to the sky and his arm slightly crackled with the last of his chakra. He said, "This…is Kirin."

A jolt of lighting shot out of Sasuke's hand and connected with the clouds. They flashed again, and this time, something could be seen. For a brief second, Itachi thought he saw a giant beast made out of lightning hovering just below the clouds. Knowing that the end was close at hand, Sasuke said, "Be gone with the thunderclap."

He pointed his hand in Itachi's direction. Within a fraction of a second, a giant bolt of lightning struck the roof and a majority of the building collapsed. Acting quickly, Sasuke had to jump off the monolith before it, too, collapsed with the rest of the building. He stood among the rubble and, as quickly as they came, the clouds quickly dissipated. He looked around and it didn't take him long to find Itachi.

He lay face down on the rubble, completely still. Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan and his whole body shook from weakness. He dropped to his hands and knees and let out an exhausted sigh. He was weak, and he had now used up all of his chakra, but after all these years, he finally managed to kill his brother and avenge his family.

"It's done." Sasuke weakly stood up. "It's finally over!"

He took one, last, hard look at his brother's corpse before turning around to leave. Sasuke slowly walked away from his dead brother and let a small chuckle of satisfaction escape his lips. He had finally killed Itachi. For once in these past few years, Sasuke had never felt happier.

"Is this the death you had imagined for me?" A familiar voice asked.

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><p><strong>Another cliffhanger! Yes, I know this chapter is short, but the next one is going to be longer. Next time, will this fight ever end? Also, a familiar foe makes his reappearance during the battle.<strong>

"What? Why did you make Sasuke so helpless? You made him say 'please' to the Darkness? That's just out of character!" **Fear can change people. Sasuke was about to lose his other eye and fear clouded his mind. At least he somewhat stayed in character by only saying "please" instead of a "please, I beg of you" or a "I'm begging you, help me", plus he did regret saying it afterwards when his mind was clear again.**

**Frost has fallen, and it's about time I took out my Akatsuki snuggie to wear on these cold winter nights. Yes, I have a black snuggie with the infamous Akatsuki red clouds on them.**


	12. Chapter 12:  Hidden Truths

**."Darkness The" Cow's Top or "Naruto" Kishimoto-san's own not do I :Disclaimer**

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><p>Chapter 12: Hidden Truths<p>

Sasuke's eyes widened and he quickly turned back around. To his greatest disbelief, he saw Itachi slowly stand up. Blood leaked out of the corner of his lips and the spark of life seemed to have left his eyes, but he was still standing. Infuriated, Sasuke's curse mark rapidly spread across his body until he transformed into his second state. He screamed at Itachi, "How?"

As if in response to his question, from its torso up, a giant, phantasmal skeleton appeared around Itachi, with its ribcage surrounding the older brother. It looked like it was made out of bright orange fire. Standing weakly in the middle of its ribcage, Itachi said, "If I hadn't used this, I _would_ be dead."

A smirk appeared on his face. "This time, I will show you _my_ trump card: the Susano'o. This is the one other jutsu that was awakened along with the Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu. So, Sasuke, is that it for your jutsu? If you have anything else up your sleeve, now is the time to play it."

Sinews of muscle appeared and stretched themselves around and across the bones of the Susano'o. Tiny yellow lights appeared in its eye sockets and a shroud-like armor surrounded its whole body. Now, instead of a skeleton, the Susano'o looked like a demon with a long, pointed nose and jagged fangs. Along with its new "armor", it also had a large gourd bottle strapped to its waist on its right side and it carried what looked like a large, round shield in its left hand.

Sasuke couldn't believe what he was seeing. Were it nighttime outside, then he would be able to fight it with the Darkness, but night was still hours away. What could he do now, now that he was out of chakra? He still had some shuriken and bomb tags left, but he could tell that it would take a lot more than ninja tools to take down the Susano'o.

Somewhere, in the back corners of Sasuke's mind, he could hear someone faintly scream. It gradually became louder until it felt like his head was going to split. His curse mark started to burn and he instinctively clasped one hand over it.

_Let me out! _A familiar voice shrieked. _Get me out of this place! Sasukeeeeeeeeee!_

**Do you really want out? If I let you out, you will die.**

_Dying is better than this!_

**Very well then. Your soul was never worthy enough to keep anyways.**

Pain erupted from the curse mark and Sasuke tightened his grip on his shoulder. A white, shapeless mass bulged out of the mark and quickly started to engulf Sasuke's whole body. Before his face was engulfed, he cried out, "What-?"

**He never belonged in our body to begin with.**

The mass grew and branched off into eight sections. Each section grew lengthwise and started for form scales and snake heads. Within a minute, the once formless white mass had turned into an eight-headed snake that towered over Itachi's Susano'o.

Itachi, seemingly unfazed by this sudden transformation, said to himself, "So, that's Orochimaru's Eight-Headed Serpent technique."

From the right arm of the Susano'o, another arm grew out of its wrist. With the first hand, it grabbed the gourd it kept at its side. With the second hand, it uncorked the gourd and a plume of orange fire gushed out of it like a geyser. The second hand grasped the fire and it formed into a giant, fiery sword.

The eight heads of the serpent hissed at the Susano'o and, one by one, lunged at it. The Susano'o swung its sword and sliced off each head that came at it with ease. One snake head withdrew before it, too, could be sliced off. It looked at the seven fallen bodies of the other snakes, then glared at Itachi. It opened its mouth wide and something slithered from inside its bottom jaw.

Emerging halfway out was Orochimaru, who was laughing maniacally. His laughs came to an abrupt halt as he started gagging. He coughed up a sword and he pulled it out. He grinned wickedly and announced, "This is the moment I've been waiting for! The Darkness was foolish to release me! Now I can take over Sasuke's body and-."

The Susano'o raised its sword and plunged it through both Orochimaru and the giant snake head from which he came out of. His eyes widened with both pain and shock and he hacked up blood. With a smug look on his face, Itachi asked, "So, what's next, Sasuke?"

"Heh," Orochimaru managed to say, "this attack…is nothing."

Without warning, Orochimaru's form started to melt and absorb into the sword. His last words before being completed sucked in were, "Is this the sealing sword, Totsuka? Itachi, you had it-?"

Along with Orochimaru, the entire body of the white snake was drawn into the Susano'o's sword. The sword then lost its shape and poured itself back into the gourd like a raging stream of water. Itachi lowered his head and saw Sasuke on the ground, shaking from the after effects of Orochimaru's sudden emergence.

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><p>As far as Sasuke could remember, he had blacked out after the body of the eight-headed serpent had completely engulfed him. Everything after that seemed to pass by him like a blur. He didn't really know why, but an image of Orochimaru being vivisected by Darklings wouldn't leave his mind. When he opened his eyes, he was back at the ruins of the old Uchiha meeting place. Though he didn't know it at the time, the curse mark was absent from his shoulder. He lifted his head up and saw Itachi staring right back at him.<p>

"This is it, Sasuke," Itachi said to him, "your eyes are mine. I think I'll take my time in retrieving them."

Itachi suddenly clutched onto his chest and covered his mouth. He dropped to his knees as he coughed up blood in a hacking fit. The armor of the Susano'o vanished, leaving it with only its muscles and bones. Sasuke wondered what was going on with his brother. Maybe he was suffering the effects of the Susano'o, just like his eyes were with the Tsukuyomi and the Amaterasu. When Itachi was done coughing, he stood up and slowly started to walk towards his little brother.

Sasuke was desperate once again. He took out several kunai with bomb tags attached to them and threw them in Itachi's direction. A large explosion engulfed both Itachi and the Susano'o and Sasuke had to shield his face with his arms. When the smoke cleared, the Susano'o had its shield in front of Itachi, and its wielder appeared to have suffered no additional damage. All the while, Itachi's eyes never left Sasuke's as he continued to walk towards him.

Sasuke found himself backing away from his older brother. Fear overcame him once again. He looked around wildly for a shadow he could hide in, but he found none, and the opening from earlier had long been destroyed. He was positive that, this time around, he was not in another genjutsu. In this situation, with no chakra and no shadows to hide in, Sasuke was truly powerless.

"Stay back!" He yelled as he threw the last of his ninja tools at Itachi.

Unfortunately for him, all of his weapons had been deflected easily by the Susano'o's shield. Sasuke unsheathed his sword and ran at Itachi, hoping that somehow, this one attack just might get through. He jumped and tried to plunge his sword at the Susano'o, but it bounced off the shield and flew off in a random direction. Sasuke fell to the ground and, seeing that Itachi was still walking towards him, scooted away.

The next thing he knew, Sasuke was backed into a wall, which happened to be the remains of the monolith that had stood earlier. He looked left and right, hoping to make a break for it, but Itachi was already closing in. The form of the Susano'o passed through Sasuke, and he felt like he had passed through a wall of heat. Once more, he trembled as Itachi reached for his face with bloodied fingers.

Though he was backed against a wall, Sasuke still tried in vain to back away from his brother. The fingers inched closer until they were close to his left eye. But then, the fingers drifted upwards and poked Sasuke's forehead. A weak smile stretched across Itachi's face and he muttered, "Sorry Sasuke, but this is it."

His fingers trailed down from Sasuke's forehead to his cheek, leaving a bloody streak behind. Itachi slumped forward and hit his head against the wall. His whole body slumped and he collapsed onto the ground. The Susano'o completely vanished like a candle that was blown out by the wind. Sasuke breathed shallowly and he slowly turned his head to face his brother. Itachi was not breathing and his eyes stared off into nothingness.

Sasuke could not believe it. Itachi was close to plucking out his eye, yet instead, he poked him on the forehead. Long before the massacre, Itachi had always teased Sasuke by poking him on the forehead and saying "Sorry Sasuke", and it always got on his nerves. Did he poke his forehead on purpose, or did his eyesight fail him at the last minute? Sasuke stared into his dead brother's eyes, as if expecting him to come back to life at any minute, or to come out of playing possum like last time. No matter how long he stared, his brother would not move.

Sasuke slid himself down the wall until he was sitting down. He was completely exhausted, both physically and emotionally, after that fight. He shut his eyes and smiled, knowing that his brother was definitely dead this time. He slumped forward onto the ground and passed out, his body parallel to Itachi's.

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><p><em>Dear Shuichi,<em>

_Reading your description of your sons' techniques, I find it to be incredible that they possess such jutsu. I also think that these techniques were appropriately named: Tsukuyomi, the moon god, for the darkness and illusions that the moon can weave; Amaterasu, the sun goddess, with her bright and burning light (though the black flames contrast this description); and Susano'o, the storm god, both ruthless and protective. Truly this is a milestone that will forever be recorded in our clan's history._

_Out of all these abilities, I am most interested in the Amaterasu. You say that it can burn anything, even water and normal fire. If this is true, then I think I have finally found a way to achieve a permanent death. Enclosed in this letter is a map showing my location. Have your sons meet me there in two days. I will get right to the point: I want your sons to burn me alive, and then burn my ashes afterwards. With no body to regenerate, the Darkness will die with me and it will no longer trouble our family._

_Yes, this is murder, but consider it to be a mercy killing. I should have been dead a long time ago, but the Darkness will not let me die until I father a son. Please, for my sake, send your sons to kill me. They are the only ones who can do it._

_Forever your half-brother,_

_Kazunori_

* * *

><p>When Sasuke woke up, he found that he was burning up. He looked around and saw that he was lying in a small futon that was surrounded by four bonfires. He sat up and now saw that he was in a back corner of a cave. He looked himself over and saw that he was covered in bandages.<p>

"I treated your wounds." A voice spoke up. "I know you would have healed faster with the Darkness, but I can't risk you using it against me."

Sasuke turned to the direction of the shadows where the voice originated from, but with the presence of light from the fires, he could not use his Darkness vision to see who it was. The voice continued, "You won, but you've suffered quite a bit of damage yourself. You aren't completely healed yet, so I advise not moving around so much."

From the shadows, a familiar person stepped into the light of the bonfires. Sasuke remembered him as Tobi, the one who fought alongside Deidara. However, his voice was different and he had a different air about him. Instead of sounding childlike and carefree, he sounded both calm and serious. It was almost as if Tobi had undergone a complete personality change.

Noticing Sasuke's look of recognition on his face, Tobi said, "Yes, we have met once before, but we were enemies back then. Don't worry, I don't hold Deidara's death against you, and I am not your enemy. I brought you here in order to tell you something."

Sasuke lowered his head. He was not interested in what this guy had to say to him. His thoughts drifted back to the fight with Itachi. At least he knew that he wasn't dreaming this whole time, that Itachi really did die at his hands. Tobi tilted his head to the side and asked, "Not interested? What if I told you that it regards Itachi Uchiha?"

Sasuke now looked at Tobi with slight interest, though it didn't show in his eyes.

"That's right," Tobi went on, "you think you know everything about your brother, but you don't. You still don't believe me? Well, let me start with a self-introduction." He placed a hand on his orange mask. "I am an Uchiha survivor, just like you." He partially removed his mask so that the right side of his face was shown. There were wrinkles on his face and bags under his eye. What really got Sasuke's attention was that Tobi's right eye had the Sharingan pattern on it. Tobi said, "I am the one who knows the truth behind Itachi Uchiha."

Sasuke's left eye activated its Sharingan without warning. As he stared at Tobi's eye, he felt blood trickle down from his own eyelid. He felt like his one eye was different, like it had more power. As the blood dripped down the side of his face, black fire suddenly appeared and engulfed Tobi. He cried out in both surprise and pain and he retreated back to the shadows, dropping his mask along the way.

The black fire was the Amaterasu, without a doubt, but why did it suddenly appear? Sasuke quickly covered his left eye, wondering if somehow, he was the one who summoned the fire. He felt his eye slowly revert back to normal and the bleeding stopped. He asked out loud, "What _was_ that?"

"It was the Amaterasu," Tobi's voice spoke from the shadows, "and it seemed like Itachi implanted it in you just before he died." A hand reached out and picked up the mask. Shortly after, Tobi reemerged with his mask back on and he sighed to himself, "Leave it to Itachi to plan ahead and set a post-mortem trap."

Itachi had implanted the Amaterasu in Sasuke? What post-mortem trap? These thoughts and more buzzed in Sasuke's head. Confused, he asked Tobi, "What are you talking about?"

"In order to kill me," Tobi explained, "Itachi implanted the Amaterasu in you. Or, at the very least, keep me away from you."

He went on to explain that the trap was probably designed to activate upon seeing Tobi's Sharingan eye. As he said earlier, Itachi most likely placed the trap in Sasuke just before he died. At the same time, he also transferred his ocular powers to his little brother.

Sasuke listened, but he could not believe what he was hearing. He asked, "But…why would he do that?"

"Don't you get it?" Tobi asked. "He did it so that he could protect you."

Sasuke's eyes widened. Itachi had tried to kill him this whole time, yet Tobi said that he was trying to protect him? It didn't make any sense. Sasuke blurted out, "Are you kidding me?"

"As I've said," Tobi stated, "you do not know everything about your brother."

"Liar." Sasuke gritted his teeth. "You have to be lying!"

"I understand: you don't trust me. However, what I'm about to tell you is the truth. Itachi did say that he wasn't alone on that night, didn't he? I know everything about Itachi, and he never even realized it. I know what really happened because," he paused for a moment, "_I_, am Madara Uchiha."

**He lies.**

"Liar!" The Darkness seemed to fuel Sasuke's anger. "Just shut up!"

"No," Madara pressed on, "you are going to listen to me; it's your obligation. What I'm about to tell you is about Itachi's life, and how he risked everything for the shinobi world, for the Leaf Village, and for _you_, his little brother."

Madara went on to say how Itachi never wanted them to meet, how he never wanted Sasuke to know the truth. As far as the truth went, only a few people, excluding Madara, knew about it: the Third Hokage, Danzo, and the two elderly advisors of the Hokage. Itachi didn't think that Madara knew the truth, yet he never really trusted him, and the Amaterasu trap was proof of that.

Sasuke was only partially listening. His mind was still stuck on the words "protect you". He muttered, "Protect? You said… Itachi wanted to protect me?"

"Think back to Itachi." Madara instructed. "Remember that kind, gentle older brother from back then."

"No!" Nevertheless, Sasuke could picture his brother's old smile from long ago. He blurted out, "He tried to kill me! He tried to steal my eyes! He-!" He felt himself weaken once more. In his disbelief, he started hyperventilating.

Madara placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and said, "Calm down. Take deep breaths."

"Don't touch me!" Sasuke shoved Madara away from him. Still weakened, Sasuke fell on his side and he found himself losing consciousness. He tried to sit back up, but he collapsed and passed out once more.

Madara sighed. He knew he wasn't going to listen to him quietly. He took out some rope and figured that now would be a good time to tie him up before he woke up. He lifted Sasuke up and placed him against the back wall of the cave. He sat him up and started tying the rope around his arms and chest. Just as he was tying the knot, he heard Sasuke say, "So, we meet again."

Madara looked at him with surprise. How could he be awake already? Looking into Sasuke's eyes, he saw that they had a lifeless look to them. Madara asked, "Again?"

"I have seen you many times," Sasuke said, "but you have never seen me before. I know you are not Madara, yet you seem to know enough about me."

"So you are the Darkness. Even in the light, you can still possess your host. If that's the case, then what's keeping you from leaving this place or killing me?"

"I want Sasuke to hear the truth. You are the one who will help me destroy Sasuke."

"I have no intention of helping _you_."

"Of course you don't, but I _know_ you will. You have helped me so many times before, and you will continue to do so."

Madara turned his back to Sasuke and said, "This discussion is over. Just wake up Sasuke for me."

"As you wish…" Sasuke slowly shut his eyes and a malevolent smirk spread across his face.

* * *

><p><strong>Just what the heck is going on? Next time, on "Darkness Eternal", the mysteries pile up<strong>**! What is the truth behind Itachi? What do Madara and the Darkness really want out of Sasuke? Stick around to find out!**

"Hey Foxgirl, are you going to write any more fanfiction?" **Yes, but I find it easier to focus on one story at a time rather than juggle several at once. I have ideas for more fanfiction, but I'm having a hard time deciding which one to write next.**


	13. Chapter 13:  Dark Influence

**I wish I could do a disclaimer in a foreign language, but I can't.**

**Madara's history retelling will be (somewhat) briefly summarized in order to maintain space for other events and dialogue. If you want the whole speech, go read "Naruto", volume forty-three.**

**Chapter 13? **_**13**_**? My Triskaidekaphobia* senses are tingling!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 13: Dark Influence<p>

When he woke up, Sasuke found that he was tied up. He struggled against his bonds, but his still weakened state wouldn't let him do much. He lifted his head up slightly and saw Madara leaning against a nearby wall, his one Sharingan eye looking back at him. He said to Sasuke, "Sorry, but I took the liberty of tying you up, since it didn't seem like you would listen to my story meekly."

Sasuke lowered his head. He remembered Madara mentioning something about Itachi wanting to protect him and some hidden truth a short while ago just before he passed out. He muttered, "Itachi…he killed mother and father…slaughtered our whole clan… he…he-!"

"It was true that on that night," Madara said, "Itachi did kill the entire Uchiha clan and fled the village. What you don't know, was that the Leaf Village ordered him to do so. The entire massacre was actually a mission that was assigned to Itachi, and he had no choice but to follow it through."

Sasuke's eyes widened. The _Leaf_ made Itachi kill their family? Not the same Leaf that he grew up in. Not the same Leaf where he trained hard every day so that he could one day kill his older brother. Not the same Leaf where he was a member of Team 7. To say that he was flabbergasted would be an understatement. He nearly stammered, "I-I don't understand! Why would Itachi even-?"

"In order to explain Itachi's story," Madara lowered his head, "I must go back to the beginning. It's a long tale, but every word of it is true."

Sasuke now eyed him suspiciously and asked, "And what makes you think I will believe what you say?"

"You'll just have to decide whether my tale is true or not after you hear all of it."

Sasuke sighed. He was tied up, so there was nothing he could really do. He muttered, "Fine. Talk."

So Madara began his story…

More than eighty years ago, the whole ninja world was in chaos. Clans fought each other for power and territory, and bloodshed was commonplace. Among those many clans, two were the most powerful and the most feared: the Uchiha and the Senju. Of the Uchiha, Madara was one of the most exceptional members. He was constantly in battle and, on more than one occasion, he fought his most hated Senju enemy: Harashima.

Madara eventually took his younger brother's eyes, but, in contrast to what Itachi said to Sasuke, he didn't steal the eyes, but his brother gave them to him. Sometime afterwards, the Senju ordered a cease-fire, and Uchiha agreed to it. They were both tired of endless conflict and, after signing a peace treaty, they joined forces and eventually formed the Leaf Village. All the other clans eventually formed their own respective nations and there was instantaneous peace.

However, out of everyone in the Uchiha clan, Madara was the only one who was against the peace and alliance with the Senju. When the time came for someone to be selected as the Hokage, Harashima was selected. Madara felt like his clan was being suppressed, so he went up against him. However, because they were sick of Madara trying to rekindle the flames of war, the entire Uchiha clan came to despise and scorn him. Madara left the Leaf, but came back later to start a war with it. After fighting one on one with Harashima, Madara was defeated and he bitterly skulked away in the shadows.

When the Second Hokage came into power, he gave the whole Uchiha clan the special position as the Leaf's police force. In truth, however, they were separated from the rest of the Leaf's governing body, and they came to realize that. Years later, during the time of the Fourth Hokage, the Kyubi came and attacked the village. Knowing that the Uchiha were the only ones capable of controlling the demon fox, the elders of the Leaf became suspicious of them.

The elders, Danzo and the Hokage's two advisors, had Anbu spies watch over the clan. Not long afterwards, they found out that their suspicions would prove correct: the Uchiha was planning a coup d'état against the Leaf. To keep a further eye on the clan, the elders sent one particular Anbu spy to watch over them: Itachi Uchiha.

"What?" Sasuke interrupted. "An Uchiha coup…and Itachi as a spy?"

"No one told you because you were so young," Madara said, "but it's the truth. Anyways…"

It didn't make Sasuke feel any better that his father was behind the coup. He had Itachi join the Anbu in the first place so that he could spy on the elders. The truth was, however, that Itachi was a double agent.

"But why would Itachi betray the clan?" Sasuke could not believe what he was hearing.

"When he was very young," Madara patiently explained, "he witnessed the horrors of the Third Great Ninja War. Since then, he was strongly against war and he wanted nothing but peace. The elders knew that about Itachi, and they used it to their advantage…"

Itachi was then given the mission that would change everything: the annihilation of the entire Uchiha clan. If the Uchiha were to pull off their coup successfully, then the Leaf would be weakened, and that would be an advantage for the other neighboring nations. Other nations would try to invade, and everything would escalate into another Great Ninja War, all because of this one action done by the Uchiha. Itachi didn't want to kill his family, yet he did not want to see another war. In the end, he made his painful choice.

Meanwhile, Madara was having his own plans of attacking the Leaf once more. Itachi sought him out and quickly found out his intentions. It was then that the two made a bargain: Madara would help Itachi kill the Uchiha clan if he spared the rest of the Leaf. Back at the Leaf, the Third Hokage was the only one who was against the massacre mission. He tried to compromise with the Uchiha, but it was too late: Itachi had already slaughtered the clan. All went according to plan, except for one thing: Itachi couldn't kill his little brother.

Itachi cared too much for Sasuke to kill him. He had later threatened Danzo and the other elders that if they were to do anything to Sasuke, then he would leak private intel to the other nations. On that horrific night, he told Sasuke what he could, but he couldn't reveal everything to him. Instead, he gave Sasuke a reason to take revenge against him. He pressured his little brother to get stronger so that in the end, he would get stronger ocular powers, preserve the good name of the Uchiha, and become a hero to the Leaf.

"However," Madara's voice became grave, "there was one thing Itachi did not anticipate."

Sasuke had a gut feeling on what it may be. He answered, "The Darkness."

"Yes," Madara gave a single nod, "the Darkness. Long ago, Itachi had also visited the hidden Uchiha meeting place underneath the Nanako Shrine. He read the epitaph with his Mangekyo Sharingan and found out a terrible secret that the Uchiha kept hidden. Sasuke, would you believe me if I said that, ever since their first ancestor, the Uchiha had wielded the Darkness?"

The surprises never seemed to end. Stuck in denial, Sasuke said, "You're lying. You have to be lying!"

**No lies, Sasuke.**

Sasuke stiffened. Was the Darkness telling the truth? How could this power have already existed in his clan?

"I won't go into the history of the Darkness today," Madara said, "but I will say that it was a shock for Itachi when he found out that you were the current wielder of the Darkness. He feared of what the Darkness may do to you, so he came up with a plan. In the earlier battle, Itachi wanted to pressure you so that not only could he cause Orochimaru to emerge, but also the Darkness. He had planned to seal both of them using the Susano'o, but he had only managed to seal away Orochimaru. In the presence of light, he couldn't seal the Darkness away without sealing you too, and Itachi certainly didn't want that."

"No…" Sasuke shook his head. "He tried to kill me! He tried to take my eyes!"

"That was all Itachi's setup to pressure you in battle."

"No! It's all a lie! It's-!"

"You're alive, aren't you?"

Sasuke blinked. Yes, he was alive. If Itachi really wanted to kill him, he would have done it a long time ago. Madara sighed and took out a kunai. He said, "You never saw through Itachi's illusions. He killed his family and his best friend for the sake of the Leaf, but he couldn't kill you." He walked over to Sasuke and cut the ropes that bound him. Madara asked, "Don't you know what this means? It means that your life…was more precious than the Leaf."

Sasuke slowly stood up, but other than that, he stayed where he was. Madara went on, "Itachi was ravaged by illness this whole time, and he prolonged his life with medication. He had to live long enough for you to kill him. Don't you see, Sasuke? He did all of this just for you, his precious little brother."

Sasuke lowered his head. Madara's explanation seemed to make sense, yet he didn't want to let go of his past hatred for his brother that easily. He didn't know what to think anymore. Madara saw this tormented confusion in Sasuke's eyes and he asked, "You want proof? Itachi had this on him when I found him. I'm sure this means something to you."

He fished something out of his pants pocket and handed it to Sasuke. He looked at it and he couldn't help but gasp.

In his hand was a torn photo scrap of Itachi years ago. Without really thinking, he took out the torn family photo from his own pocket and put the two pieces together. The two pieces fit perfectly together. So, after all this time, Itachi had the missing piece of the picture. Sasuke lowered the two pieces and pocketed them together. He slowly started to walk out, to which Madara asked, "Where are you going?"

"I need to be alone." Was all Sasuke said.

"Your possessions are by the exit."

This statement proved to be true as Sasuke came to the exit of the cave. Piled on the floor near the wall were his cloak, sword, and empty ninja tool pouch. He reequipped himself before making his way out.

"Sasuke!" A familiar voice called up from up ahead.

Coming towards his direction were the members of Team Hebi, escorted by Kisame and an Akatsuki with two Venus Flytrap-like leaves surrounding his head. Karin ran ahead of the group and wrapped her arms around Sasuke in a tight embrace. She talked excitedly, "I can't believe it! You did it! You killed Itachi! I knew you could do it!"

"Yeesh, Karin," Suigetsu sighed, "let him breathe for crying out loud."

But Karin wouldn't let go of him, nor would she stop talking. Suigetsu had to grab her and pull her off of Sasuke. Jugo looked at Sasuke and could already sense that something was wrong. He asked, "Is everything all right, Sasuke?"

"Of course he is!" Karin blurted out. "He finally fulfilled his goal!"

"You weren't worried about us though, were you?" Suigetsu asked.

"He should have been, with the way you had been acting while he was out!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You fought Kisame." Jugo pointed out.

"I would have beaten him if plant-face didn't stop us!"

Sasuke wasn't really listening at this point. He walked past the group and did not stop walking. Everyone stopped talking when they saw him walk away from them. Karin broke away from Suigetsu's grip and tried to run after him, but Jugo stopped her. He said to her, "I think he needs to be alone."

"Huh?" Karin stared at the direction Sasuke went off in. She lowered her head and admitted to herself, "I guess he _is_ acting a little odd."

The group heard footsteps and they saw Madara walk past them. Without turning around, he stopped and said, "Kisame, Zetsu, stay here. The rest of you are welcome to follow me."

"Is this about Sasuke?" Karin walked ahead of Jugo and Suigetsu. "We can find him on our own you know."

"Then I guess we're just going in the same direction."

Out of nowhere, a small, black vortex completely sucked up Madara and they were both gone in seconds. The team let out various gasps and cries of surprise at this. Suigetsu muttered, "What the fuck was that?"

"Come on!" Karin snapped. "We need to get to Sasuke!"

No one had any arguments about that.

* * *

><p>Sasuke stopped when he came to a seaside cliff. He sat at the edge and looked out over the roaring ocean waves. A deafening wind whipped his hair all over the place and the smell of saltwater wouldn't leave his nostrils. He was lost in his thoughts, still trying to process everything he had just heard earlier.<p>

He thought back to all the good times he had spent with Itachi long before the night of the Uchiha massacre. He remembered his brother's old smile and his kind, gentle personality from long ago. In his reminiscing, he remembered something that he had long suppressed, something that had happened right after the massacre. Back then, he chased after Itachi in a blind rage. Just before he escaped, Itachi turned around to get one last look at Sasuke, and there were tears streaming down his eyes. Truly, those were the eyes of someone who had regrets on what he had done.

Sasuke took out the two pieces of the old photo again and fitted them together. He looked at his father, his mother, his younger self, and at Itachi. More memories flooded his mind and his hands began to tremble. The wind threatened to blow the pieces out of his hands, so he pocketed them again. He blinked and realized that tears dripped out of his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut and he felt a large amount of power surge in them.

Was this the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan that he was feeling in his eyes? Madara _did_ say that Itachi transferred his ocular powers to Sasuke, but he felt like this was not the case. The only feeling that was stronger than the feeling of power was pain. It was the pain of knowing a long lost secret, and it was the pain of having lost Itachi, the one who was once again the closest person to Sasuke. It was illness that killed Itachi, not Sasuke, so why did he feel like he had just obtained the Mangekyo Sharingan? Maybe, just _maybe_, it only took the pain of having lost him to awaken it.

"Brother…" For the first time in a long time, Sasuke cried.

Itachi…why did he have to die? Why did his family have to die? It wasn't fair. It just wasn't!

**It was **_**their**_** fault.**

Sasuke lifted his head up. He asked, "Who are 'they'?"

**The Leaf. They hated your family. The Uchiha were great, and they didn't like that. They **_**made**_** Itachi kill them.**

Sasuke stood up. For once, the Darkness was right about something: it was all the Leaf Village's fault that his family was dead. All the while, the Darkness was feigning sympathy for its host.

**Aw, poor, poor Sasuke. While you grieved, everyone in the Leaf just smiled and laughed. Can you see them, Sasuke? Can you see their faces?**

He could, and he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in response. He could imagine all the smiling faces of the Leaf, laughing and carrying on with their lives like nothing bad would ever happen to them while Sasuke mourned for the loss of his family. No one knew how he felt, and they didn't want to know. They continued to live their happy lives, oblivious to all the death and pain that could happen to them at any moment, and that infuriated Sasuke.

**Let them know your pain. Kill them all.**

Yes, he would do just that, but…what would his team think? Well, if they were truly loyal to him, then they would help him. If they weren't, then he would just do it himself. Sensing that he was not alone, he turned around. Looking back at him was his team and, further back, Madara. He told them that he wanted to be alone, yet they still followed him. Well, it didn't matter now, they were here.

A sharp cry pierced Sasuke's ears and he looked up. Soaring above him was a lone hawk, searching for any possible prey. He thought back to the poetic monologue that he told to Orochimaru, the one about the snake and the hawk, and he felt like his team bore many similarities to it. They were once the snake, fierce, but earthbound. Now, they were more like the hawk, just as fierce, but not restrained by the ground.

Sasuke turned back to face the sea and he said to his team, "We have shed the skin of the snake. From this day forth, we are no longer the Hebi, but the Taka. As the Taka, we only have one goal…"

Power once more flowed into his eyes. Sasuke activated his Sharingan, but this time, he felt like he could take it a step further. He blinked and his normal Sharingan pattern was replaced by three overlapping ellipses in each eye*****.

**Say it, puppet, say it!**

"We exist," Sasuke said coldly, "to destroy the Leaf!"

* * *

><p><strong>Sasuke wants to destroy the Leaf Village? Yes, that was a shock to me when I first read it too. Next time, what does Team Taka think about all this? Also, Sasuke learns a little more about the past history of the Darkness.<strong>

***Triskaidekaphobia= The fear of the number 13.**

***Three overlapping ellipses is the best description I can come up with without saying "atomic stars".**

**I will be using the Darkness more later on, so if you have any ideas of possible powers that Sasuke could use (outside of those in "The Darkness" video game), list them in the reviews. **


	14. Chapter 14:  History of the Darkness

**Remember the last disclaimer, the one about the not saying a disclaimer in a foreign language? Well, here's the disclaimer in cow language: Moo.**

"_**Then it will happen this way: You make the kill, but the pain doesn't die with Harvey, it grows. So you run out into the night to find another face, and another, and another, until one terrible morning you wake up and realize that revenge has become your whole life, and you won't know why." **_**Bruce Wayne to Dick Grayson, **_**Batman Forever**_**.**

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><p>Chapter 14: History of the Darkness<p>

Despite the sound of the roaring waves, everyone heard what Sasuke said. With the Mangekyo Sharingan fading from his eyes, Sasuke turned to Taka and said, "If you won't help me, then you are free to leave, but ask yourself this: 'Why am I here?'".

Mixed feelings overcame everyone. For Suigetsu, he had said that he would stay with Sasuke until he got Kisame's sword, the Samehada, and he intended to keep his word. As for the Leaf, he didn't really care what happened to it.

For Karin, she went with Sasuke just so that she could be near him at all times. Despite his possession of the Darkness and his increasing malevolency, her feelings for him didn't waver, and she felt like Sasuke would still need her abilities. No matter what would happen, she intended to stay at his side until the very end.

For Jugo, he accompanied Sasuke just so that he could be near someone who can suppress his killer instinct. Out of everyone in Taka, he was the most disturbed by Sasuke's revelation to destroy the Leaf Village. Nevertheless, in his heart, he still believed Sasuke to be Kimimaro's reincarnation, and he didn't want to leave his friend anytime soon.

When no one spoke up, Sasuke walked past them and said, "Let's go."

"Sasuke," Madara blocked his path, "you still need some rest after that last battle, plus there are still some things we need to discuss."

"Like what?" Sasuke was not in the mood to talk to this guy.

"Like your plan of attack on the Leaf Village. Also," he lowered his voice so that Taka wouldn't hear, "I can tell you more about the past history of the Darkness."

This caught Sasuke's interest. He said in a commanding tone of voice, "Then talk."

"Not here." Madara shook his head. "There's a place nearby where we can all meet up and talk."

"Hurry up and lead the way then."

Madara thought to himself, _Insolent boy_, but he led the way nevertheless.

* * *

><p>The place the group arrived at was an old, petrified forest. In it, they found two small wooden buildings in a little enclosure. One was on ground level while the other was nestled in a petrified tree, with a spiral staircase wrapped around the tree leading up to it. Everyone in Taka had to wonder what kind of place this was. Did the Akatsuki build this place, or was it an old settlement that they were just occupying?<p>

Taka entered the ground building and found it to be bare, save for four conveniently placed futons. Sasuke looked out the only window and saw that the sun was already setting. He leaned against the back wall and slid himself down into a sitting position. He watched his team settle down in the single room building. Jugo walked up to the window and sat on the rim. Once more, as if expecting him, several little birds flew up to him and perched on his shoulder.

Karin muttered something to Suigetsu and the next thing Sasuke knew, they were both arguing about Suigetsu's fight with Kisame. Sasuke was about to get up to break them up, but he felt his eyelids droop. Why was he tired already? Maybe he didn't get enough rest after the fight? He shook his head. Maybe he just needed some air. He stood and, fighting drowsiness, slowly walked out of the building.

A ways away from the two buildings was a giant skeleton. Sasuke walked up to it and had to wonder if it was the bones of a long deceased summon, or if it was a stone structure made to look like a skeleton. Either way, he scaled it until he was sitting on top of one of its large vertebra. The gentle wind and the sound of birdsong didn't make it any easier for Sasuke to fight off his drowsiness. He shut his eyes once and he dozed off.

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><p><em>Dear Shuichi,<em>

_If you are reading this, then I am dead. Thank you for sending your sons to put me out of my misery, though I must admit, only one wanted to do the deed. Madara wanted to reunite the Darkness with the clan so that they could gain the upper hand against the Senju once more. I mean no insult to your son, but he is too much like the older members of the family. Izuna, on the other hand, was more sympathetic and he was aware of the true nature of the Darkness. Therefore, it was Izuna who used the Amaterasu to burn me and my ashes into oblivion._

_Listen carefully, Shuichi: document my letters to you so that everyone in the clan will know just how horrific the Darkness really is. I want these letters to serve as a reminder that the Uchiha can be great without the Darkness. I want the clan's past history with the Darkness to remain in the past. Pray that the Darkness is gone for good, and that it has no way of returning._

_Shuichi, I must also thank you for saving me. "How did I save you", you ask? You see, every wielder of the Darkness has a "light" that they must hang onto in order to retain their "selves". Should that light ever die, then that wielder will lose his "self" and his very being will merge with the Darkness, giving it complete control. If it weren't for you, Shuichi, then I would have lost my "self" a long time ago. (Here, you must be wondering about your stepfather, Ketsueki, whether he lost his "self" or not. Actually, as far as I could tell, though he was completely mad, he had never lost his light: our mother.)_

_Thank you for everything, Shuichi. Hopefully, someday, somewhere, we'll see each other again._

_Your loving half-brother,_

_Kazunori_

* * *

><p>"Sasuke?"<p>

Sasuke opened his eyes and saw that it was now night, with the full moon rising up into the sky. He turned his head and saw Madara standing next to him. The man in the orange mask said to him, "The meeting is in half an hour."

"Right…" Sasuke rubbed his eyes. He looked up at the full moon and the memories of the massacre came back, as well as the knowledge that Madara confided in him with. He said to him, "It seems like everything you have told me is true."

"Yes." Madara also looked up at the moon. He asked Sasuke, "What about Itachi's eyes? Do you want them transplanted?"

With his brother's eyes, he could easily gain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. However… "No," Sasuke shook his head, "what Itachi wanted and I want are two different things. I don't want his eyes to see what I will do." He thought of something and he asked, "By the way, where _is_ Itachi?"

"His body is somewhere safe, rest assured." Madara answered. He lowered his head and changed the subject, "We still have some time before the meeting, if you're still interested in hearing more about the history of the Darkness."

Sasuke looked at Madara and told him, "Tell me everything you know."

Madara paused to collect his thoughts before he began…

As far as anyone knew, the Darkness was as old as time itself. Along with the original Tailed Beast, the TenTails, it ravaged the entire known world. It was then that a lone figure, the legendary Sage of Six Paths, came to stop them both. He encased the body of the Jubi in rock and sent it up to the sky, forming the moon. He sealed the Jubi's spirit in himself, making him the very first jinchuriki. As for the Darkness, knowing that he could not risk sealing such evil inside himself, the Sage instead sealed it in a cave far away from humankind. Because of his actions and powers, he was known as the "Ninja God" and the founder of all ninjutsu.

The Sage of Six Paths later had two sons, one to represent his "eyes" and the other to represent his "body". On his deathbed, the Sage divided the TenTails inside him into nine separate beasts and, with his death close at hand, he had no choice but to release them into the world. He then entrusted the younger son, the one who represented his body, to bring and maintain peace in the world. The older son, the one representing the Sage's eyes, became jealous and he and his brother constantly fought one another, and their descendants continued to fight years later.

Desperate to defeat his brother, the older sibling went to the cave where the Darkness was sealed. He broke the seal on the Darkness and he took it into his body, becoming its first host. From there, the Darkness was passed from generation to generation, eventually coming to reside in the Uchiha bloodline. The Darkness was content with the Uchiha until it came to reside in one rebellious host many years later.

"Kazunori Uchiha." The words slipped out of Sasuke's mouth.

If he weren't wearing the mask, then the look of surprise would be apparent on Madara's face. He asked slowly, "How did you know?"

"I've been having these dreams," Sasuke lowered his head, "dreams about someone named Kazunori. In them, he always writes letters to his half-brother, Shuichi, and he tells him about the Darkness. I was never able to remember them until now. Shuichi," he looked back at Madara, "was your father, wasn't he?"

Madara paused for a minute before answering, "Yes, Shuichi was my father, and that made Kazunori my uncle." He lowered his voice, "Kazunori inherited the Darkness from his father, but unlike his predecessors, he refused to use it. Instead, he left his family and lived the rest of his life as a hermit."

"I already know all that."

"So I guess that means you know how Kazunori finally died."

"Your brother killed him with the Amaterasu, and the Darkness died with him."

**I will never die. I am eternal.**

"Everyone thought it was gone," Madara looked at Sasuke dead in the eyes, "but after all these years, it somehow came back and found itself another Uchiha host. The question is: how?"

"I think…" Sasuke thought back, "it was my hatred that summoned the Darkness."

**You are my chosen one, Sasuke.**

"So," Sasuke went on, "is that all you know about the Darkness?"

"No." Madara answered. "I also know that the Darkness can consume you completely if you're not careful."

Sasuke remembered the "ultimate price" that the Darkness mentioned that he would eventually have to pay. Odds were, it wanted Sasuke to lose his "self", but only if he lost his "light" first. He asked, "Who is my light?"

"So you know about that too." Madara muttered. He said out loud, "Your light has to be someone who is close to your heart, or rather, someone who keeps your humanity in check."

"Someone close? But I've already lost my entire family! There is no one else close to my heart!"

"If that was true, then you would have already lost your 'self'."

"Then who-?"

"We've wasted enough time here. Everyone's waiting for us."

Sasuke stood up and both shinobi left to join the others.

* * *

><p>At the meeting, Madara, Kisame, and everyone in Taka were present. There was a long table with several chairs, though Sasuke was the only one who was seated. Sasuke explained to his group that he would target the elders of the Leaf, since they were the ones who ordered Itachi to kill his family. Kisame warned him that if he were to attack the higher-ups, then everyone else would come and stop him. Basically, Sasuke would have to take on the entire village if he wanted to kill the elders.<p>

Madara noted that Akatsuki was running low on manpower, so he proposed that Taka should work with them. If they did, then they would get their share of the Bijus' combined power once they have captured all of them.

"That's a generous offer," Sasuke said to Madara, "but you seem to keep forgetting that I have the Darkness."

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out the Darkness's weakness." Madara countered. "Say that everyone ambushes you with floodlights, then what would you do? Having the Bijus' power as a backup is hardly a bad idea."

Sasuke had to concede to that fact. Madara went on to say that if Taka really wanted their share of the Bijus' power, then they would have to contribute to retrieving the remaining jinchuriki. Currently, there are only two jinchuriki left in the world: the EightTails and the NineTails. Taka would retrieve the EightTails in the Land of Lightning while the rest of Akatsuki would retrieve Naruto.

"One more thing," Madara eyed everyone in Taka, "if you should betray Akatsuki in any way, then you will have to die."

"You don't need to tell us twice." Sasuke said.

"Then everyone is dismissed," everyone was about to leave, "except for," everyone stopped, "you, Sasuke."

Everyone in Taka looked at Sasuke. He told them, "Go. I'll catch up to you once I'm done."

They followed their leader's orders, though they had to wonder what Madara wanted to talk to him about. When they were gone, Madara sat at the opposite end of the table and began, "Sasuke, there's something else I need to ask of you. Now that you know the whole truth about Itachi, you could just take his place in protecting the Leaf instead of destroying it. Tell me: what are your real intentions?"

Sasuke rested his elbows on the table and his chin on his hands and slouched forward. He answered, "My grief of losing Itachi is greater than any desire to follow his path. I do not want peace bought with his life. Now that I know the truth, I will never take his side and protect the Leaf. Most of all though, I will never forgive those three elders, and I believe that everyone in the Leaf enjoying the peace gained in exchange for Itachi's life is equally guilty."

"I thought you were only going to kill the elders?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I only feigned in front of Taka. No, I want to kill _everyone_, but by myself."

"Are you sure?" Madara, in turn, narrowed his one eye. "What about Itachi's will and sacrifice to protect everyone? Are you just going to ignore that?"

"You told me that Itachi couldn't kill me because my life was more precious than the Leaf. I feel similarly: I think Itachi's life is more precious than the Leaf, and…" He paused.

"And?"

**It's all their fault.**

"It's all their fault!" Sasuke sat up and banged on the table with his fist. Anger filled his heart as he went on, "They discriminated the Uchiha, ordered my brother to kill them, and the elders are not the only ones who feel that way, but also everyone in the Leaf who abide by the Senju! To me, they are the scum of the earth! They are all objects of my vengeance!"

Madara said nothing. Sasuke took a deep breath before he once again slouched forward with his chin on his hands. He said, "If you want to ridicule me as a brat swayed by his emotions, then go ahead." He looked at Madara, as if daring him to say something, but the older Uchiha said nothing. Sasuke went on, "To accept and adopt Itachi's will would be childish. If anyone who would disparage my way of living were to come forward," he activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, "then I would kill the ones they love left and right! That way, they too would grasp what it's like…to experience this hatred of mine." Sasuke stood up, "If you don't have anything else to say, then I'm retiring for the night. We'll get EightTails for you tomorrow."

As he was about to leave, Madara finally spoke up, "You know that the Darkness is using you, right? I'm not going to stop you from pursuing your vengeance, but if you're going to follow your plan through, then the Darkness will surely devour you."

Sasuke didn't turn around, but he clenched his fists and said, "It doesn't matter. If it can help me kill everyone in the Leaf and cleanse the Uchiha name, then I would gladly give in to it."

With that said, Sasuke walked away from Madara and went to the ground building, where Taka was waiting for his return. Madara stared off in the direction Sasuke left and thought about the last words he had said to him. It was obvious that Sasuke was falling under the influence of the Darkness.

If nothing is done soon, then Sasuke would lose his "self" to the Darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>Things are looking pretty grim for Sasuke. Next time, Taka fights the EightTail's jinchuriki, unaware that a certain author will skip the entire fight scene since the Darkness is once again not involved. Sorry!<strong>

**Ah, Christmas vacation at last! For this Christmas vacation, it can only mean two things for me to do: play video games and write more fanfiction!**


	15. Chapter 15:  The Eyes have it

**Disclaimer: Something something "Naruto" something something "The Darkness".**

**Sorry this took longer than usual. I got **_**Skyrim**_** early and I am addicted to it.**

**As a reminder, I will skip the fight between Taka and Killer B (a.k.a. the EightTails's jinchuriki), since the battle itself won't be any different from the original manga.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 15: The Eyes have It<p>

The next morning, Taka woke up to find that someone, most likely Madara, had left a pile of Akatsuki cloaks at the doorway. Karin walked up to the pile and picked up one cloak. She scrunched up her face and asked no one in particular, "Are we really supposed to wear _these_? I thought we were _working_ for Akatsuki, not _joining_ them."

"You're right," Sasuke walked up to the pile and picked up another cloak, "we're not really members, but let's just humor them this once." He donned on the cloak, which was a bit loose for him, and said, "We'll get rid of these things once we turn in the EightTails's jinchuriki."

"Humor them?" Suigetsu did not like the idea of having to wear the same type of outfit that Kisame was wearing. "Are you serious?"

"Just put the damn thing on!" Karin snapped as she donned on her cloak.

"Anything for Sasuke, huh?" Suigetsu smirked as he picked up a cloak.

Flustered, Karin tackled him and another fight broke out. As Sasuke had to break them up once more, Jugo picked up the last cloak and also put it on. To him, it was better than wearing a curtain as a cloak. He glanced down and saw a slip of paper on the floor. He picked it up and, after reading it over, called out, "Sasuke."

Once the fight was broken up, Sasuke walked over to Jugo and saw the paper in his hand. He took it and looked it over. It only had once sentence: "Rendezvous point is at the Tsurugi Ruins in the Land of Waves*****." There was no signature, but Sasuke had a feeling that it was also from Madara. He relayed this information to the rest of his team and told them to get ready to leave.

Soon enough, everyone had gathered their things and walked outside. They were told yesterday that the jinchuriki was in the Land of Lightning, so he or she was most likely in the Hidden Cloud Village. If that was the case, then they would have to take on an entire village just to get to him or her. That didn't bother Sasuke though, as he figured that it would be good practice before he took on the Hidden Leaf.

Wait, that didn't sound right. Sasuke shook his head and recollected his thoughts. He had nothing against the Hidden Cloud, so why would he want to destroy it? No, he wouldn't take the whole village on unless he absolutely had to.

"Let's go." He said to his team.

* * *

><p>The Land of Lightning was mostly made up of canyons, rivers, and hot springs. The only sound that could be heard most of the time was the echo of the roaring winds passing through the canyons. Along the way, Suigetsu asked Karin, "Hey, can't you just track this guy down?"<p>

"I don't know his chakra signature," she answered irritably, "so I can't really pinpoint him."

"If he's a jinchuriki, then shouldn't he have a lot of chakra?"

"Jinchuriki aren't the only ones with huge amounts of chakra! Remember fish-face? He had a lot of chakra and he's not a jinchuriki."

Suigetsu gritted his teeth and said nothing back. He did not want to admit to Karin that she was right. Sasuke joined in on the conversation and said, "Then we'll just have to find someone who knows where he is."

A few minutes later, they came across a metal fence that seemed to border a large area. Posted there was a lone ninja guard with the Hidden Cloud symbol on his headband. Everyone thought that the timing couldn't be more perfect. Suigetsu charged on ahead and, catching the ninja off guard, slammed him against the fence. He wrapped his arm around the guard's neck and noted, "A Cloud shinobi, eh?"

The ninja looked at his enemies and gasped, "Those cloaks-!"

"So, where's the EightTails?" Suigetsu got right to the point.

The guard clawed at Suigetu's arm, but he didn't' let go. He said, "I won't tell you anything! I will never betray one of my own!"

Sasuke figured that any threats on the guard's life weren't going to work, so he decided to try genjutsu. He walked up to the guard and said, "A fearful heart is more likely to crack." He shut his left eye and activated his Mangekyo Sharingan with his right.

The man's eyes widened and he stopped struggling. Seeing this, Karin told Suigetsu, "You can let him go now; he's under Sasuke's genjustu."

Suigetsu rolled his eyes and muttered in annoyance, "Gah, and I was just getting to the fun part…" Nevertheless, he released his grip on the shinobi guard.

"Give us EightTails's location." Sasuke commanded.

"N-n-no…" The guard stammered.

Sasuke's single-eyed glare intensified and the guard gaped. He lowered his head and let out a painful moan. He trembled and saliva dripped out of his open mouth. Tears welled up in his eyes and he cried, "Mom. Mom!"

He dropped to his knees and clutched onto his head. He screamed for his mom over and over again. This got on Suigetsu's nerves quickly and he snapped at Sasuke, "Shut him up already!"

Sasuke eased his glare and the guard's screaming stopped. Sasuke told him once more, "Tell me where EightTails is."

With an almost dead look to his eyes, the guard answered in a trance-like state, "He's training in Storm Cloud Ravine." He limply raised an arm and pointed to a distant cluster of rocks that stood in the middle of a lake.

"Any distinguishing characteristics?" Sasuke asked.

"He wields eight blades, he has the kanji 'steel' tattooed on his right shoulder, and bull horns tattooed on his left cheek."

Sasuke blinked and his eye returned to normal. The guard collapsed and curled up in a fetal position, muttering "mom" over and over like a broken record. Sasuke turned away from him and said to his team, "Let's go."

On their way to the Storm Cloud Ravine, Suigetsu asked Sasuke, "What the hell did you show that guy?"

"I am curious to know too." Jugo joined in.

Not even glancing at his teammates, Sasuke answered, "Only the Darkness knows." He gave an unnatural smile and added, "Maybe if you remind me again after the mission, it will be more than happy to show you."

Though they didn't see the smile, almost everyone suddenly had an uneasy feeling about their leader. Suigetsu somewhat regretted asking, but he kept his thoughts to himself. Jugo didn't like the sudden change in Sasuke's behavior, yet he knew he would still have to depend on him to control his urges to kill. Karin only thought that Sasuke was becoming more badass, which only meant that he was cooler in her eyes.

Taka soon arrived at the lake. Aside from pillars of rock, there was also a wide, circular platform with stairs leading up to a shrine. Sasuke glanced around and figured that this place was just too perfect of a setting for a battle to take place. Everyone looked at the shrine and they saw someone exiting.

It was a muscular man with dark skin. He wore the Cloud headband and he wore dark sunglasses over his eyes. Everyone immediately saw his defining characteristics: eight short swords strapped to his back, the kanji for "steel" tattooed on his right shoulder, and two parallel bull horns tattooed on his left cheek. Without a doubt, this was the one they were looking for.

As the man was descending down the stairs, Sasuke walked forward and addressed him, "EightTails's jinchuriki…"

The man stopped and folded his large arms. He cocked his head to the side and snapped, "Hey! That's 'Lord EightTails' or 'Lord Jinchuriki' to you!"

Sasuke confided with his team, "I'll take him head on. Suigetsu, you cover the right, Jugo, the left, and Karin, watch my back." He focused his Sharingan eyes on the jinchuriki and told him, "We're here to capture you."

* * *

><p>Somehow, with the help of his team, Sasuke managed to defeat and capture the EightTails's jinchuriki. However, everyone was in bad shape afterwards.<p>

Sasuke was nearly out of chakra and his left eye ached from using the Amaterasu near the end of the battle. At one point, the jinchuriki had caught him off guard and blew a hole in his chest. Somehow, with his Curse Mark abilities, Jugo was able to patch the hole up by transferring some of his flesh to him*****. As an unexpected side effect, however, Jugo shrank to the point where he looked like a kid. Despite this change, Jugo was still strong and his other abilities have not diminished.

Karin mostly did not fight, as she was mostly in charge of keeping track of the jinchuriki during battle. At one point, she was able to transfer some of her chakra to Sasuke by having him bite her arm. Despite not being an active combatant, she was still seriously injured. While using the Amaterasu on his opponent, Sasuke had accidentally set her on fire as well. Fortunately, he was able to put it out before it could kill her.

Suigetsu had used up all of his chakra fighting the jinchuriki and defending his team from his attacks. Greatly weakened, his body became a misshapen form of water that looked like it could turn into a puddle at any minute. With Jugo carrying an unconscious Karin and Suigetsu and Sasuke carrying the knocked out jinchuriki, the team had no choice but to leave the large Kubikiribocho behind.

The trek to the Tsurugi ruins took longer than usual, and Sasuke and Jugo had to take occasional breaks. By the time they reached the ruins, the sun was already setting. As expected, the ruins looked like…well, ruins. It was a pile of stone rubble, with at least one stone pillar still standing. The ruins were in the middle of a lake, and, fortunately, both Sasuke and Jugo had just enough chakra to walk across the water. When they reached the ruins, they saw that there was a metal door positioned close to the floor. Sasuke set the jinchuriki down for a moment so that he could open the door.

Inside, they saw stairs leading down. Sasuke picked up the fallen shinobi once more and led the way. At the bottom of the stairs, there was a single room with a large tank of water in the back. The only other things that were in the room were a crate and a bottle and glass of water on top of it. Leaning next to the crate was Madara. As Sasuke approached him, Madara looked at him and said, "Good. I knew you could do it."

"As promised." Sasuke said as he dropped the unconscious jinchuriki in front of Madara.

Madara picked up the man and slung him over his shoulder. He said, "Taka has fulfilled its roll, now all that's left is the NineTails." He looked at Sasuke and asked, "What will you do until then?"

"What do you think?" Sasuke folded his arms. "First, we rest, then we're off to the Leaf."

"You're not going to wait until we have the NineTails's jinchuriki? Until we have all the Bijus' power at hand?"

"I'd rather not waste any more time."

Madara lowered his head and said nothing more. From the single eye hole of his mask, a black vortex appeared and swallowed both Madara and the EightTails's jinchuriki in a matter of seconds. When he saw that there was no trace of anyone or anything left, Sasuke walked over to the crate and sat down. Jugo walked over to nearest wall and set both Karin and Suigetsu down. He noticed that Suigetsu in particular did not look like he was improving, and he notified Sasuke of this.

Sasuke wondered what they could do for Suigetsu, then his gaze turned to the tank of water. Suigetsu was mostly water, so he figured that letting him rest in water would help heal him. Once more, Sasuke had to wonder about the convenience of things since Taka allied with Akatsuki. He motioned to the tank and told Jugo, "Throw him in there."

Jugo nodded, picked up Suigetsu again, and approached the tank. With a single toss, Suigetsu went flying and he landed in the water with a loud "splash". Upon impact, he woke up and looked wildly around. On the one hand, he was relieved to be in his natural element, but on the other, he had no idea where he was. He swam up to the glass of the tank and placed his hands against it. He saw Sasuke and he asked, "Hey, where are we? Did we get the EightTails?"

"We're at the rendezvous point," Sasuke answered, "and yes, we did get him."

A satisfied smirk appeared on Suigetsu's face. His eyes wandered to Jugo, then to Karin. When he saw that she wasn't moving, he asked, "Is Karin dead?"

"You…wish…" Karin muttered as she finally opened her eyes. She sat herself up, though she winced from the pain of her burns. She looked at Sasuke and asked, "Are you alright, Sasuke?"

"Hey!" Suigetsu snapped. "What about us?"

"Well," she looked at Jugo and said, "aside from looking like a kid, Jugo seems fine," she turned to Suigetsu, "and I could care less about you!"

"Likewise!" Suigetsu then realized something and he asked, "Hey, where's my sword?"

"We had to leave it behind." Sasuke said as he poured some water from the bottle into the glass.

"What?" Suigetsu was outraged. "Why would you leave my Kubikiribocho behind?"

"Shut up already!" Karin snapped. "Just be glad he didn't leave you behind!"

"Oh come on! You passed out as well! Maybe he should have left _you_ behind! My sword is worth more than you!"

"I passed out protecting all of you!"

"So did I! Don't make me regret saving your ass, Karin!"

"We were all protecting each other," Jugo tried to calm his own frustration, "so stop quarreling."

Suigetsu and Karin both let out exasperated sighs and turned their heads away from each other. Suigetsu turned his head slightly to face Sasuke and asked him, "So, are we really getting the Bijus' power, Sasuke?"

Sasuke shut his eyes and thought back.

Originally, the Biju were going to be his backup power in the day time, but now that he is able to use most of his Mangekyo Sharingan techniques in battle, he felt more confident in his own abilities. If he could use all of his abilities in the battle against the Leaf, then maybe, just maybe, he could destroy it without the Bijus' power. Besides, he didn't trust Madara completely. Since last night, he had the nagging feeling that Madara just wanted to use him for an unspecified purpose.

**He just wants to use us.**

Or maybe the Darkness was trying to tell him something. Sasuke answered Suigetsu's question, "Actually, I don't think we need to depend on such things anymore."

"Huh?" Suigetsu was puzzled. "Why?"

Sasuke didn't answer, but instead, reached for the glass of water. His outstretched hand bumped into something and there was a small crash. He looked down and saw that the glass had fallen on the ground. His vision blurred slightly and he rubbed his eyes. Was he losing his sight _already_?

"Sasuke?" Karin walked up to him. "Are you okay?"

"It's nothing." He lied. "I'm fine."

"Are you-?" Karin turned her head and suddenly said, "I sense someone's chakra outside. It seems like we've been tailed."

"I'll take care of it," Sasuke shut his eyes, "it's dark outside now…"

* * *

><p>From the rocks close to the lake, a lone Cloud ninja peeked from behind them. He had heard the commotion from the fight between B and the four members of the Akatsuki, so he came to investigate. When he saw them take away B, he decided to follow them. He had been careful the whole way, and now, he knew where they were hiding.<p>

A large lizard, the ninja's messenger animal, crawled up his back and onto his shoulder. The ninja took out a little scroll and hastily scribbled down a message on it. He picked up the lizard and set it down on the ground. He strapped the scroll onto its back and whispered to it, "Go now. Take this back to the Raikage."

The lizard flicked its tongue and scampered over the rocks and onto the surface of the lake. The Cloud ninja watched the lizard as it seemed to skip across the water. Then, from the water, a large black fish popped out of it and swallowed the lizard whole. The ninja gaped at what just happened. Out of all the times that it could happen, a fish just came and…wait, he had never seen a fish that large before. Besides, he had never heard of a freshwater fish that could eat lizards before.

He cautiously walked up to the water's edge and peered at its moonlit surface. The same black fish from earlier poked its head out of the lake and squirted a stream of water in the ninja's face. The ninja groaned as he wiped the water off his face. That was when he felt his face and hand burn. He screamed in pain and watched his hand bubble and blister in front of his eyes. His skin peeled back and blood gushed out.

Though he couldn't see it, the exact thing was happening to his face.

Blood covered his eyes and he could no longer see. He dropped to his knees and tried to wipe the burning substance off his face. He felt something warm and soft peel off his face, and it certainly wasn't the "water". As he howled from the burning agony, he heard several things laughing behind him. He couldn't see what they were, but they sounded like something that came from the dark corners of his worst nightmares.

**"'I'm melting! Melting!'" **One voice mocked.

**"Hey, I think Urashima is hungry for more." **Another voice piped up.

**"Yeah, that lizard was barely an appetizer!" **Another voice snickered.

The three Darklings that were present shoved the Cloud shinobi into the water. They watched as the fish latched onto him with razor sharp teeth and started to tear him apart. Both fish and ninja struggled and thrashed in the water for a minute, then everything fell silent. The Darklings watched as the moonlit water turned red with blood and severed limbs bobbed up and down in the water. One Darkling walked up to the lake and reached forward to pick up an arm.

**"Uh," **one Darkling tried to get the other one's attention**, "I wouldn't do that if I-."**

The fish reemerged and snapped at the Darkling's fingers. Fortunately for the Darkling, it had managed to pull its hand away before it lost its fingers. It looked at its fellow Darklings, who only laughed at its near misfortune.

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, the Darklings are still alive and kicking. Next time, Madara has some news for Sasuke, both good and bad. Also, something shocking will happen that (may) leave you saying, <strong>"Whaaaat?"

***= These kinds of places were originally unnamed and at unspecified locations, so I did the work of naming these places and giving them locations. I find it to be better than saying "that place over there".**

***= In the original manga, Jugo said he could merge his flesh with Sasuke's because his curse mark was compatible with his. However, Sasuke had already lost his curse mark, so how was it possible for Jugo to do this? As for him turning into a kid, I can't really explain that either.**

**Happy holidays everyone!**


	16. Chapter 16:  The Death

**Got disclaimer?**

**Things are only going to get darker from here, fellow readers. Soon, this fanfiction is going to live up to its M rating.**

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><p>Chapter 16: The Death<p>

In addition to disposing of the follower, Sasuke also decided to use the Darkness to retrieve Suigetsu's sword. Everyone was surprised when they saw Sasuke pull the sword out from the crate's shadow like a rabbit out of a hat. Surprised as they were, though, Taka had already learned not to question the abilities of the Darkness.

Just in case anyone else followed them, Sasuke posted hundreds of Darklings outside to keep watch. As an extra precaution, he also had some Darklings keep watch inside. Their presence greatly unnerved the rest of the team, yet they couldn't help but feel some sense of security from them. Despite the absence of beds and the presence of the Darkness's twisted manifestations, everyone still managed to fall asleep.

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><p><em>In Sasuke's eyes, the world was black, white, and red. He stood in front of the collapsed gates of the Leaf Village, wondering just how he got here. He peered further in and saw that all the buildings were reduced to rubble. Beyond that, he saw no trace of the Hokage stone faces. Wondering who could have destroyed the village before he did, Sasuke cautiously walked forward.<em>

_The first corpses that he saw were those of his family._

_Sasuke's eyes widened and the memories of that night came back to haunt him. However, unlike that night, the corpses looked like they were soaked in blood and their expressions were that of pure terror. As he walked past them, he heard a familiar voice crying. It didn't take him long to figure out that the voice was his own, yet it somehow sounded much younger. _

_He glanced down and saw just how small he was. He looked at his hands and saw that they were very little, like the kind a young kid would have. Sasuke didn't need a mirror to see that he was once again a little boy around eight years old. He knew he was dreaming, and he wanted to wake up from this nightmare already._

_He walked past the corpses of his family and soon came across dozens of more fallen bodies. The corpses were of everyone that Sasuke knew from the Leaf. Their eyes were wide and their mouths open, like they were screaming when they died. They were all soaked in blood, though their cause of death could not be seen. Sasuke would have been satisfied with this, if someone hadn't killed them first._

_Then, from up ahead, familiar screams filled the air. Sasuke ran forward, towards the source of the screams. As he ran, blood started to pool the ground and he could hear loud whispers from the shadows. He turned to look in the direction of the whispers, but no living thing was present. He listened closely and found that they were all repeating the same word._

_**"Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill…"**_

_Only when Sasuke arrived at the source of the screams did the whispering finally stop. Scattered around the area were the severed limbs and strewn out insides of several people. He tried to look for any recognizable heads, but he found none. He knew that the voices belonged to Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi, so were these mutilated parts…?_

_A shadow loomed on the ground and Sasuke looked up to see who it was. Standing in the middle of the gory mess was an older Sasuke, though something seemed very wrong with him. His eyes and smile were wide with excitement and insanity. His lips and sword were stained with blood. He chuckled at first, then he laughed out loud._

_The younger Sasuke was afraid of his older counterpart. It was him, but at the same time, it wasn't him. The twin demon snakes rose out of the older Sasuke's shoulders and many Darklings crawled out of the rubble to join their master's side. They all stared at the younger Sasuke with burning eyes, and he turned around to run from them._

_Something tripped the younger Sasuke and wrapped itself around his ankles. As he was being dragged back, he turned and saw that a black tendril had extended from the back of his older self. The younger Sasuke clawed at the ground in an attempt to drag himself away, but his older self only laughed at his futility._

_**"Don't resist." **__The older Sasuke commanded in a voice that was not entirely his own. __**"Come. Embrace the Darkness."**_

_The tendril wrapped itself upwards until it had bound the younger Sasuke's arms together. It lifted the boy upside down until he was dangling a few inches away from his older self's face. The younger Sasuke continued to struggle, to his older self's amusement._

_"Sasuke!" The younger Sasuke found himself screaming. "Don't give in to the Darkness! You can't lose me! Not now, not ever!"_

_**"Give up." **__The older Sasuke smirked. __**"No matter how many times you try, you will never save Sasuke from his fate. It will be so much easier for you if you just stop fighting and let me devour you."**_

_"No! As long as our light exists, I will never give in to you!"_

_**"The light will die, just like he has many times before."**_

_Both snake heads lunged forward and all the younger Sasuke could do was scream._

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><p>Sasuke gasped as he woke up. He sat up and struggled to control his frantic breathing. He knew he had a horrible nightmare, but he remembered nothing other than the feeling of terror. Somewhere in his mind, something told him that he had to get rid of the Darkness as soon as he could, but why would he do that? It was the greatest power he had ever wielded, so why would he get rid of it?<p>

Sasuke shook his head. His thoughts and feelings seemed to contradict one another. No, as much as the Darkness gave him trouble, he still needed it. But then again-.

"Sasuke?" He could hear Karin ask.

He lifted his head and saw his team staring at him, minus the guard Darklings from last night who were now absent. Suigetsu and Jugo looked puzzled, but Karin looked worried. She asked, "Are you-?"

"I'm fine." He interrupted her. He stood up and told them, "Pack up. We're leaving for the Leaf in a minute."

Everyone thought Sasuke sounded unreasonable. They had fought a tough enemy yesterday, so how did he expect them to recover completely overnight? However, now that they looked over themselves, they actually seemed fine.

Suigetsu's form was back to normal, Jugo's fatigue was absent, and Karin's burns no longer stung to the touch. Their chakra was completely restored as well, but how was it possible? Jugo was the first to suspect that Sasuke had somehow healed them with the Darkness without them knowing. He started to ask, "Sasuke, did you-?"

But Sasuke was not listening. He turned his back to his team as he started to gather his things. Taka silently decided that they should go ahead and pack up as well. As they did, though, they all couldn't shake the feeling that their leader was becoming someone else altogether.

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><p>Shortly after the sun had risen, Taka was already on its way to their destination, with Sasuke leading the way. They ran through the trees, skipping from one branch to another. Up ahead, a familiar figure materialized out of nowhere. Taka came to a sudden stop as Madara stood before them. They were surprised to see him come out of nowhere, but Karin was most surprised, as she could not even sense his chakra until after he appeared.<p>

"Sasuke…" Madara said in a low voice.

"How did you know where we were?" Sasuke immediately asked.

"Don't underestimate me; I have many abilities at hand."

"Well, then what do you want? We're through with you."

"I warned you that you would die if you betrayed the Akatsuki," Madara glared through the singe eyehole of his mask, "and you didn't hold up your end of the deal."

"Deal?"

"I'm talking about the Biju hunt."

"What?" Karin spoke up. "But we already turned EightTails in!"

"That one was a substitution." Madara folded his arms. "EightTails had pulled a fast one on you. You've disappointed me, Sasuke."

Sasuke lowered his head and gritted his teeth. After all that Taka had been through yesterday, how did they capture a fake? Before he could say anything back, Suigetsu snapped, "So what do you want us to do about it? It's none of our business anymore!"

"I disagree." Madara shook his head. "I have a new job for you to do instead, one that doesn't involve the EightTails."

"And what if I decline?" Sasuke lifted his head up and narrowed his eyes.

"Then we'll fight here, right now, and you won't be able to go to the Leaf."

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and his arm sparked with Lightning chakra. He couldn't be stopped, not now. He charged at Madara with a Chidori, but for some reason, he passed right through him. He managed to land on the tree branch in front of him before he lost his balance and fell. He turned back around and saw that Madara was still present. It was like Sasuke had attacked an illusion, but this "illusion" looked too real. Karin also noticed this and double-checked Madara's chakra.

The chakra readings of this mysterious shinobi didn't change, which could only mean that he was the real thing.

"Now that I think back," Madara turned around to face Sasuke, "it's a little too late for you to return to the Leaf."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke demanded.

"The village was destroyed yesterday*****."

Everyone's eyes widened. They were all surprised, but no one was more surprised than Sasuke. He had vowed to destroy the village and everyone in it, but now he had no chance of fulfilling his revenge. It may have been destroyed, but he was not happy. He should have been the one to do it!

"How did that happen?" Karin suddenly asked.

"My underling, Pain, went to retrieve the NineTails," Madara explained, "and he destroyed the village in the process. Despite this, he was still defeated by the NineTails's jinchuriki, and because of his actions and yours, all five Kage are now gathering for a meeting."

Sasuke couldn't believe it. Just how strong _was_ Naruto? Something else clicked in his brain. He asked, "All _five_ Kage? So the Hokage is still alive?"

"Ah yes, I forgot to mention: the village may be destroyed, but everyone in it is still alive."

Sasuke clenched his fists. So he still had a chance to exact revenge on everyone. As he thought this, Suigetsu asked, "What? This guy destroys an entire village and _no one_ died?"

Before Madara could answer, a familiar Venus Fly Trap-shaped head rose out of the branch that he was standing on. The two leaves opened up and everyone could see Zetsu's face. Unsurprised by Zetsu's sudden appearance, Madara turned to him and asked, "So, who's the new Hokage?"

"It's that Danzo guy." The white half of Zetsu answered.

"Just as I anticipated." Madara turned to Sasuke and asked him, "Do you remember me mentioning Danzo?"

Sasuke did remember. Danzo was one of the three elders of the Leaf that had ordered Itachi to murder their family. He angrily asked, "_He's_ Hokage?"

"Correct," Madara nodded, "and he's on his way to meet with the other four Kage. As of right now, your new mission is to-."

"Find and kill Danzo." Sasuke finished for him.

"You catch on quick."

Sasuke looked at his team, and they immediately knew what they were going to do. Everyone thought that the whole thing was starting to become a bother. Karin asked, "So, where is this meeting taking place?"

"Zetsu will show you the way." Madara looked at Zetsu and he nodded to his leader.

A tear appeared on the line between the black and white sides of Zetsu's face and widened. Soon, the tear got to the point where both halves were completely severed. The white half pulled itself out of the tree branch while the black half stayed where he was. He stood before Taka, bearing the right side of the Venus Fly Trap leaf on his shoulder and wearing half of his Akatsuki cloak. He ran ahead of the group and shouted to them, "Follow me!"

Taka followed the white half of Zetsu to their new destination. Jugo went up to Sasuke's side and asked, "Can we really trust them?"

"If any of them try anything," Sasuke muttered back to him, "then I'll just kill them when night comes."

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><p>By the time the sun rose to the top of the sky, the group had entered different territory. They headed north until it was snowing. Goosebumps quickly appeared on everyone's skin and each of them had to draw their cloaks closer to their bodies to try to keep warm. At some point, Zetsu came to a sudden stop and he pointed straight ahead.<p>

Beyond snow covered fields and trees stood a small mountain, minus its top. Zetsu explained, "In the crater of that mountain is the Fubuki Meeting Grounds*; that's where the five Kage are meeting."

Sasuke turned to Jugo and told him, "Try to get one of your birds to scout the area for lookouts."

Jugo did not like Sasuke thinking that he owned every bird in the wilderness, but he said nothing. He raised an arm, and within half a minute, a hawk came and perched on it. He whispered something to the hawk before releasing it to the sky. Everyone waited a few minutes before the hawk came back and perched itself back on Jugo's arm. He leaned in close to the hawk and listened.

Though the hawk said nothing, Jugo seemed to understand the silent message it was conveying to him. He nodded a few times before he released the hawk once more. He reported that there were several lookouts, but there was a route up the mountain that was lightly guarded. Sasuke turned to Karin and told her to keep track of the lookout's chakras just in case. He then turned to Zetsu and told him, "You're coming too; I need you to point out Danzo to me."

Zetsu only nodded in response. Sasuke had Jugo take the lead temporarily so that he could show them where the path was. Once they had started their trek up the actual mountain, Sasuke took the lead again. The group came up to a high ledge and they peered down.

Patrolling the main mountain path were around a dozen (give or take) heavily armed samurai. They wore metal armor and masks over their entire bodies, leaving no patch of skin exposed to the elements. Taka slowly withdrew from the ledge and continued their climb without a word.

Finally, they reached the lip of the crater and they peered down below. In the center of the crater was a large pyramid-shaped building*, which was surrounded by several walls and had many samurai patrolling it. A group of three walked through the gates of the walls and passed the samurai without any trouble. As he watched them enter the building, Sasuke muttered, "We need to get inside."

"How?" Karin asked.

"In case you haven't noticed," Suigetsu said slowly, "there are about-."

"I know," Sasuke said irritably, "but I have an idea."

He looked at the shadow of the pyramid and summoned a Darkling there. The small Darkling waved in Sasuke's direction before it sank into the shadow. Sasuke closed his eyes and focused his mind on the one Darkling.

Everything was dark. Sasuke looked up at the ceiling and saw that there were lights, but they were currently off. He didn't know if the power was off or if anyone was trying to save electricity, but either way, it was perfect for him. All around him, there were stone pillars that held the levels of the pyramid up from the inside. He looked up and saw that there was a small balcony of sorts. He crawled up the nearest pillar like a squirrel and jumped into the balcony. It was small, out of the way, and it was a perfect spot for surveillance. With its role completed, the Darkling vanished back into the shadows.

Sasuke blinked and he was back outside with his team. He looked around for a shadow large enough for everyone. There were some large rocks, but with the sun directly above them, their shadows were slim. Just when he thought he would have to think of another idea, he remembered that they had passed a small cliff earlier that was curved inwards. He looked at Zetsu and said, "I know you have your own way of getting in, so go on ahead and wait for us."

"What?" Karin asked with surprise. "What if he tries to leave?"

"You're the chakra sensor, remember? You can let me know if Zetsu doesn't keep his word."

Zetsu muttered something before sinking into the ground. Karin concentrated for a moment and said, "He's in there."

"Good." Sasuke said without looking at her. "Let's go."

Everyone followed him and they quickly realized that they were backtracking. Everyone inquired on what he was doing, but he only answered that it was part of the plan. When they came to the curved cliff and saw Sasuke run into its shadow, they realized that he was going to pull another stunt with the Darkness. He motioned them to come, which they hesitantly did.

The moment they stepped into the shadow, everyone present sank into it and vanished.

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><p>In the darkness of the pyramid's interior, Sasuke pulled himself out of the floor of the balcony. He reached into the shadow that he had climbed out of and pulled out each member of Taka one by one. They all had stunned looks on their faces, and no one knew what to say. A few feet away, Zetsu rose out of the ground and joined Taka once more.<p>

"Nice trick, Sasuke." He said with an impressed grin on the single half of his face.

"Wha…?" Karin managed to say. She peeked over the edge of the balcony and whispered, "We're really in?"

One by one, everyone else looked down from the balcony. The same group they saw earlier was present. Zetsu said in Sasuke's ear, "That geezer in the middle; he's Danzo."

The one in the center of the group was elderly, with a cross-shaped scar on his chin. The right side of his face was bandaged up and the right side of his body was completely hidden by a cloak. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and, glaring at the old man, muttered to himself, "So…that's Danzo."

He was actually staring at one of the elders who ordered the annihilation of the Uchiha clan. In the depths of his very being, he heard the Darkness urging him to go ahead and kill him here and now while it was dark. Sasuke rationalized that taking him out now would only alert everyone else. If that were to happen, then they would be in real trouble. No, he would wait until he was alone before he struck. He watched as Danzo's group left the main room and entered into another room.

Jugo turned around and noticed, "Zetsu's gone."

Sasuke stayed silent. He watched the door to the other room for many long minutes. Nothing happened for a while, then, without warning, Karin's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "The samurais' movements have changed! I think they're looking for us!"

Sasuke clenched his fists. What gave them away? Jugo answered for him, "I think it was Zetsu."

"We'll deal with him later." Sasuke stood up and, to everyone's surprise, he jumped off the balcony.

"Sasuke!" Suigetsu hissed at him. He muttered, "He's going to get himself killed."

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Karin kept her eyes on Sasuke and watched as Darkness armor covered his body.

Sasuke hid behind a pillar and slowly unsheathed his sword. He heard many footsteps running towards his direction, and, after charging Lightning chakra to his sword, he peeked around the pillar. When he saw the armored faces of the samurai, he ran at them with incredible speed, sword first. Within that one run and with only one swing of his sword, five samurai fell to the ground with long gashes on their chests. The other samurai that were present charged chakra to their swords and came at Sasuke all at once.

Sasuke turned around and, once more with inhuman speed, he struck down several more samurai, his sword cutting through their armor with no resistance whatsoever. Blood poured out of the fallen samurais' gashes, and they were not moving. Sasuke kept at this until all samurai present were dead. When it was over, he looked over the corpses and asked, "That's it? I expected samurai to be stronger than this."

**In the darkness, you are strong. Want to be stronger, Sasuke? Then feed me their hearts!**

As he fixed his eyes on the dozens of corpses, Sasuke actually _considered_ doing that. He shook his head. There was no way he was going to do something so barbaric…would he? Before he could really decide, a loud boom resonated in the pyramid. One wall exploded and three people walked through the large opening.

They were three ninja, two men and one woman. The man in the center had dark skin, incredibly large muscles, and a very angry look on his face. He yelled at Sasuke, "YOU! I'm going to teach you to fear _real_ fury!"

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke turned his head and saw Jugo by his side, his curse mark already spreading across his face. Jugo said to him, "Darkness or not, you're not going at it alone."

"You idiot!"

Sasuke turned the other way and saw Suigetsu beside him. Drawing out his sword, he asked, "How many times do I have to keep doing this for you?"

"I didn't ask-." Sasuke tried to say.

"Tch, forget it." Suigetsu muttered before he charged in sword first.

The fight was hard. The large man, who was revealed to be the Raikage himself, had incredible strength and specialized in Lightning chakra abilities. The other two ninja had Lightning and Water type chakra, and it didn't help that one of them was also a sensor like Karin. Even with his armor and newly formed demon heads, Sasuke was having a hard time.

Suigetsu wasn't doing too well himself. While defending Sasuke from a sudden attack, his sword was cleaved in half, much to his dismay. Jugo, meanwhile, was pushed to his limits. For this fight, he had no choice but to give in to his killing instincts and transform into his second state. As powerful as he was, though, his opponents wouldn't go down that easily.

At some point in the battle, Sasuke had charged at the Raikage with a Chidori, but it only scratched the large man. Surprised, Sasuke was caught off guard as the Raikage picked him up and lifted him high into the air. Sasuke had the snakes on his shoulders bite at the Raikage's arms. The Raikage winced at the pain, but that didn't stop him from slamming Sasuke into the ground, head first. Sasuke tried to think of some form of counterattack or defense before his head hit the ground, but it was too late.

The impact left a crater that ran a few feet underground. At the bottom, Sasuke's Darkness armor and demon snakes were absent. There was a large crack across his head and both blood and brain matter leaked out. His neck was bent at an unnatural angle and the frozen look on Sasuke's face was that of shock.

From the balcony, Karin stood up and stared at the lifeless form of the one she loved. Tears dripped from her eyes and her lip trembled. He couldn't be dead…could he? She saw him, but she couldn't sense his chakra. In complete despair and denial, she screamed his name at the top of her lungs.

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><p><strong>Stupid puppet. If you had used my powers better, you wouldn't have gotten yourself killed.<strong>

Sasuke was in complete darkness. Did he really die? If so, then just where was he? Up ahead, he saw a pinprick of white light. He heard familiar voices echo from the light, and he immediately ran towards it. In that light, he could faintly make out the forms of his entire family. They all looked at Sasuke with warm smiles on their faces.

Father…mother… and even Itachi was there. Tears flooded Sasuke's eyes. He may not have avenged his family, but at least he could be with them again.

**No! You will NOT go to the light! I will not let you go!**

Thousands of tendrils wrapped themselves around Sasuke's body and dragged him away from the light. He struggled, but they refused to let go and they tightened their grip on him. The light slowly faded away, as did Sasuke's family. The last thing he saw of them was the looks of both surprise and fear on their faces. Their cries for him rang out in the dark oblivion, but they too, died out eventually.

"No!" Sasuke screamed as he continued to struggle. "What are you doing?"

**Your time isn't now, Sasuke. There is still much that needs to be done. For now, just wait until I fix our broken body.**

The tendrils continued to drag Sasuke away, to an unknown destination. After a minute, they finally released him and vanished in the void. Sasuke stood up as a red light engulfed the entire area. A place slowly materialized before him and his eyes widened with horrified recognition.

"This is-!"

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><p><strong>A cliffhanger! Yes, you read this chapter correctly: Sasuke is dead! D-E-A-D, dead! However, just because he's in some sort of afterlife doesn't mean that it's the end of the story. On the contrary, this is the halfway(ish) point of the story. Next time, Sasuke explores his new surroundings, and he meets some familiar faces that he never expected to see.<strong>

***= The passage of time in both the manga and the anime is just ridiculous. It always seems like a great battle takes place each day, or there's more than one great battle each day. Can't these ninja ever get a proper break?**

***= Again, another name that I had to give to an unnamed location. For crying out loud, Kishimoto-san, name these places! Unimportant characters are one thing, but places are another!**

***= I thought it was a pagoda at first; turns out it isn't. I actually think that a pagoda would be a better setting than a pyramid, don't you?**

**Sorry if the abridged battle between Sasuke and co. and Raikage and co seemed sloppy. One on one battles are hard enough for me to write, but three on three? That's just too much for me!**

**Once again, slightly over 4,000 words, and in such a short amount of time this time around. If I had a nickel for every word in this fanfiction, then I would have a lot of money. However, since there is no payment for fanfiction, I will gladly settle for any reviews you readers have to offer.**


	17. Chapter 17:  Visions of Hell

**If I had a nickel for every… oh, I already did that one.**

**So, is anyone still trying to get over the shock of Sasuke's sudden death? Yes? No? Shut up and get to the damn chapter already? I thought I should ask.**

**In "The Darkness" video game, Jackie had to commit suicide in a holy place before he could go to this "afterlife" (other conditions would just bring him back normally). In the comics, he came back normally, but with vague memories of his experience. Just thought I would throw that out there for you "Darkness" fan readers who are very detail-oriented about these kinds of things.**

**This chapter contains a lot of blood, gore, and disturbing imagery, so get out your sick bags everyone.**

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><p>Chapter 17: Visions of Hell<p>

Sasuke was standing before the ruins of the Leaf Village, just like in last night's dream. This time, however, his age had not changed and everything was in color, though mostly illuminated by a crimson sun. Why was he here _again_? Was the whole thing just another dream?

**This is my dream of you, of your future.**

Dream? _The Darkness dreams? _Sasuke thought before asking out loud, "What is going on here?"

The Darkness was silent. Sasuke gave an irritated sigh. If it wasn't going to tell him anything, then he would just have to find out for himself. He walked through the collapsed gates of the Leaf…and saw the very definition of chaos before his eyes.

Hundreds of civilians were screaming and running around like ants. Hordes of Darklings chased after them and tackled them to the ground, tearing at their flesh with fangs and claws all the while. Bits of torn flesh flew through the air and fresh blood stained the ground. Among the helpless civilians, there were also dozens of ninja trying to save everyone. The ninjas' intentions were good, but their actions were in vain. Though they fought valiantly against the hordes of Darklings, they were all eventually overwhelmed and shredded to bloody pieces.

Sasuke did nothing but stand and watch. He was not disturbed by this horrific spectacle, save for one thing. He wanted to see the expressions of pain and despair on everyone's faces, but these people didn't have _any_ faces. They had no eyes, noses, mouths, or ears, like their "faces" were nothing more than skin-colored canvases waiting to be painted.

Eventually, no human was left alive. Blood pooled the ground and corpses piled over one another. Darklings of all shapes and sizes feasted on these corpses like starving wolves, with some of them going as far as eating the bones. Sasuke slowly walked towards them, and they all lifted their heads up to look at him. The ones in Sasuke's way scampered a few feet away from him and dragged the corpses with them, leaving an almost clean path for him to walk through. Sasuke turned his head to face these Darklings and he asked them, "What's going on here?"

They grinned and bowed their heads to the ground, but they said nothing. They had never treated Sasuke with _this_ much respect before. As he began to ponder this thought, he heard a familiar voice say, "It's not _you_ they're bowing to; they're bowing to the you that's to come."

Sasuke turned his head to the direction of the voice. In the distance, he saw a little boy running away from him. He instantly recognized the boy as his younger self and, still wondering just what the hell was going on, he chased after him.

Along the way, he saw more people either fleeing or fighting the Darklings, but none of them seemed to take notice of either Sasuke. The smell of blood sickened the older Sasuke, yet at the same time, it made his mouth water. He looked at his younger self and saw that he seemed oblivious to everything that was happening around them. Sasuke continued to follow his eight-year old self until they were in front of the ruins that used to be the Hokage's office.

For some reason, both corpses and Darklings were absent in this part of the area. The little Sasuke stopped where he was and pointed up at the Hokage Stone Faces, or rather, where they used to be. The faces were absent, but the older Sasuke could see stone pillars on top of the cliff where they used to reside. On those many pillars, he thought he could make out the forms of humans. The younger Sasuke looked at his older counterpart and said, "Kazunori can help you if you listen."

**Don't listen to him, Sasuke.**

A black blur ran past Sasuke and snatched up his younger counterpart. The second before he vanished with the blur, he heard the little boy cry out, "Sasuke!" Sasuke shook his head once more, his confusion growing. He was seeing everyone in the Leaf being killed brutally by Darklings, he saw a younger version of himself; he just didn't know what to think of it all. He looked back up at the pillars and decided that he should head there next.

Sasuke ran up to the cliff and sent chakra to his feet. He ran up the cliff, its rough surface not hindering him one bit. He turned his head to the side and he had a better view of the Leaf.

Basically, it had looked like something big had crashed into the village. Darkness had enveloped some sections of the Leaf like smog while large Darklings went on rampages in other parts. Either way, no matter where he looked, he mostly saw blood and corpses littering the streets. Finally, he had reached the top of the cliff and he stared in both disgust and fascination.

There were a little over a dozen stone pillars, with men crucified to all but one. Most were completely skinned while a few still had flesh on their faces. A few of them had purple eyes with rings in them* while the rest had the familiar Sharingan pattern in their eyes. They all stared at Sasuke with pained looks on their faces, but no one said anything. As he looked at each individual face, he heard the Darkness whisper their respective names in his mind. They all sounded familiar to Sasuke, yet he did not know these people…or so he thought.

**Ketsueki…**

The man who was called Ketsueki laughed as if he had just heard the Darkness speak. His laugh was cracked, but no less maniacal. He grinned at Sasuke and said, "Ah, so you're the newest host of the Darkness!"

Ketsueki was skinless, save for his face and hands. He was a bald mid-aged man and, out of the all the crucified present, he was the only one who seemed to have life in his eyes. Sasuke said slowly, "Ketsueki…"

"The Darkness _really_ likes you," Ketsueki continued to grin, "I can tell. For a boy, you have a lot of hatred in your heart. So tell me: you want to destroy this village, right? Oh, don't bother answering, I know you do. From what I understand, this was the village where the Senju dominated over the Uchiha. How do I know that, you ask? Well, my kind master, the Darkness, told-."

"Shut up." Sasuke snapped. "I didn't come here to listen to you babble. I was told to see Kazunori."

"Kazunori? That no good son of mine?" Ketsueki spat. "He's a disgrace to the Uchiha bloodline!"

"Father…" A nearby voice said weakly. "I've heard enough from you…"

Next to the pillar where Ketsueki was crucified was another pillar. On that pillar hung an elderly man whose body was being eaten by black flames. Despite the black fire and smoke, Sasuke could still see the man's Sharingan eyes. Sasuke asked him, "You're Kazunori Uchiha?"

"Yes," the burning body responded, "I am…_was_, Kazunori. What do you want from me?"

"I was told you could help me."

"Help you? With what? Killing everyone that cared about you? Enslaving the world? Or…are you like me and you just want to get rid of the Darkness?"

"I…don't know." Sasuke lowered his head.

"If you want to achieve a permanent death, like me, then you would have to find someone who can either burn you with the Amaterasu or seal both you and the Darkness away. However, just because you will die doesn't mean that you will leave the Darkness."

"All wielders of the Darkness can never escape from it!" Ketsueki suddenly blurted out. "Our bodies may be destroyed, but our minds and souls remain in the heart of the Darkness! You should have known that you can never escape the Darkness, Kazunori!"

"I did the world a favor by dying!"

"Would you both shut the fuck up?" An irritated Sasuke snapped again. He looked at Kazunori and said, "I don't know why I'm here, but I want to know how to get out of here."

"You're here because you died before your time." Kazunori explained. "As we speak, the Darkness is repairing your body. Until it's done, it sent you here."

"And just where _is_ here?"

"It's…" Kazunori tried to think of the right words to say. He answered slowly, "This place…is inside the Darkness, but at the same time, you are inside yourself. Some people call it Hell, but I believe we are in the heart of the Darkness. This place varies from host to host, but it could either look like your greatest desire, or your own personal nightmare."

"Your greatest, nightmarish desire is to kill everyone in this village," Ketsueki laughed, "and you will…or was it 'just as you have done before'? I've seen this massacre too many times to know anymore… but either way, people will die! Men, women, children, babies, it doesn't matter to you as long as they are Senju-born!"

Sasuke unsheathed his sword. Pointing it at Ketsueki, he threatened, "Keep talking and I'll silence you for good."

Ketsueki only laughed in response. He praised, "Yes! Feed your anger! Feed your insanity!"

"Father!" Kazunori roared. Ketsueki fell silent, though he kept the grin on his face. Kazunori said to Sasuke, "As far as getting out, the Darkness will only release you once it's done fixing your body."

"So," Sasuke sheathed his sword, "I'm just supposed to wait?"

"I'm afraid so."

With nothing else to say, Sasuke turned to leave. Before he did, however, he heard Kazunori call out to him, "Don't give in to the Darkness! It will do whatever it can to corrupt you!"

"It's not a bad thing, Kazunori." He heard Ketsueki say to his son.

Sasuke ran back down the cliff, not wanting to hear another argument from those two. He thought back to Kazunori's last words. _Don't give in to the Darkness! It will do whatever it can to corrupt you! _Sasuke thought that warning came a little too late. He knew the Darkness was trying to corrupt him, but he didn't plan for it to have its way in the end.

**Why would I corrupt you, Sasuke, when you have already corrupted yourself?**

When he reached the bottom of the cliff, Sasuke found himself in front of a different, but familiar place. He was standing in front of the Uchiha residence, but for some reason, it was not in ruins like the rest of the Leaf. The painful memories prevented him from entering, yet at the same time, he was compelled to go inside. As he took a step forward, he heard the voice of his younger self shout, "Don't go in!"

He looked around but, aside from himself, no one else was present. From inside the residence, another familiar voice called out, _**"Come in, Sasuke."**_

Torn between two opposing feelings, Sasuke eventually decided that nothing was going to be done unless he entered the building. He walked forward and opened the door to his old home. The moment he passed through the doorway, the air became much colder. Sasuke hadn't felt this cold or afraid since he first met the Darkness years ago. He walked down a seemingly long hallway and froze.

At the end of the hallway, several black tendrils were dragging a familiar looking corpse into a nearby room. Sasuke knew that corpse. He recognized the hair, the face, and those ridiculous clothes. When the corpse was in the other room, Sasuke now saw the thick trail of blood that it had left behind. He felt like he shouldn't go on, but yet he just _had_ to. Somehow or another, he willed his legs to walk him forward.

The floorboards creaked with each step he took. Sasuke's heart thundered in his chest and head and his breathing became frantic. As he drew closer to the room, he heard various noises coming from it. It was the sound of someone eating something meaty. Sasuke's heart jumped to his throat when he arrived at the open doorway to the room.

In his nightmares, he had always seen the room where his parents were murdered, but this time, it wasn't his parents' corpses that were lying in the middle of the room. Instead of his parents, it was Naruto. A humanoid shadow was hunched over him with its face buried in the open cavity that used to be his chest. Various munching and slurping sounds could be heard, and Sasuke felt like he was going to vomit. The shadow lifted its head and Sasuke had to cover his mouth to stifle his surprised gasp.

The figure looked like himself, only it had yellow eyes and was shrouded in a cloak of Darkness. It stood up and wiped the blood off its lips with its wrist. It grinned wickedly and said, _**"I'm so glad you came, Sasuke."**_

Something shoved Sasuke forward and he heard the door slam shut. He stood up and turned around, but the door was covered in many black vines, along with the rest of the room. He turned back around and stared at the monstrosity that wore his face, its eyes illuminating the room. It looked like him, and it almost sounded like him, but there was no way in hell this thing could be him. Sasuke recognized that thing from years ago and, putting on a brave act, asked, "What are you trying to accomplish by looking like me?"

_**"Didn't I already tell you, Sasuke?" **_The thing asked him. _**"I am the Darkness, and I am you. Through your hatred and lust for power, I was born."**_

"You're not me." Sasuke shut his right eye and activated his Mangekyo Sharingan with his left.

Black flames engulfed the shadow, but it only laughed. It said, _**"Quick to act, aren't we? I will never die, Sasuke. When you give in to the Darkness, only I will remain."**_

"I'm not giving in anytime soon!"

_**"You will, Sasuke, you **_**will**_**. You said you would do anything for power, even if it meant selling your flesh to the devil. You broke the bonds with your friends to gain power. You joined Orochimaru to become stronger. You killed Itachi and you gained more power. You let the Darkness take your body as host just so that you could achieve the ultimate power. You even said you would **_**let**_** the Darkness devour you if it meant destroying your precious village. Remember?"**_

Sasuke's eye widened with surprise. In his shock, his eye returned to normal, but the flames did not vanish. Yes, Sasuke _had_ said all those things, even the part about letting the Darkness devour him. At the time, he thought he could break his word and get away just fine, just like he did to Orochimaru and what he planned to do with Madara. The whole time, he never really considered the consequences of his words, thoughts, and feelings.

_**"It's time, Sasuke." **_The shadow said before it faded away. Everything went dark and Sasuke felt himself losing consciousness. The last words he heard were those of the Darkness…or was it from the shadow who pretended to be him? He would never really know.

**Time to correct your mistake. Time to accept your fate. Time to wake up, Sasuke.**

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><p><strong>Things are confusing, I know, but it's <strong>_**supposed**_** to be confusing. I will leave it to you readers to interpret just what's going on. So…does anyone feel sorry for Sasuke? Yes? No? Shut up and tell us what's going to happen in the next chapter already? I thought I should ask. Next time, this author hits the redo button and Sasuke tries not to screw up his actions from the previous chapter. I am not joking, fellow readers; the next chapter starts the same way as the last, but with changes and a different outcome this time around.**

***= The Sharingan is descended from the Rinnegan. The elder son of the Sage of Six Paths had the Rinnegan, which eventually branched off into other ocular powers, like the Byakugan and the Sharingan. As said in chapter 14, the son's descendants (Rinnegan) came to inherit the Darkness until it resided in the Uchiha bloodline (Sharingan).**

**Once more, I will be taking a short break on writing, this time for New Year's. So, honestly, is anyone looking forward to 2012? To me, it doesn't really matter, just as long as I get things done (unless the world really does end, but I'm not here to discuss that).**

**See you next year!**


	18. Chapter 18:  The Return

**Got disclaimer? Not a new one this time, because it's GROUNDHOG DAY! Just kidding.**

**I'm briefly glazing over the fight between Sasuke and the Mizukage and Tsuchikage, just so you know. I don't really feel like going over every fight that Sasuke encounters.**

**Correction notice: In chapter 16, I said that the Raikage had two ninja at his side, one male and one female. Actually, I just found out that both of his allies are male. I thought that blond-haired guy (his name is C) was a woman! Whoops! Well, at least I didn't accidentally label Deidara as a woman, too.**

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><p>Chapter 18: The Return<p>

Nothing happened for a while, then, without warning, Karin's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "The samurais' movements have changed! I think they're looking for us!"

Sasuke clenched his fists. What gave them away? Jugo answered for him, "I think it was Zetsu."

"We'll…wait." Sasuke blinked as something crossed his mind.

"Wait?" Suigetsu exclaimed. "They're going to find us if we wait!"

"No," Sasuke shook his head, "it's not like that. Haven't we…already done this before?"

"What are you talking about?" Jugo asked.

"Now's not the best time for our leader to be scatterbrained." Suigetsu glared.

Still looking down from the balcony, Sasuke now remembered what had happened earlier. He had killed many samurai and he was fighting the Raikage when he was suddenly killed. Afterwards, he wound up in another place where he saw Ketsueki, Kazunori, and the monstrosity that claimed to be both the Darkness and himself.

Everyone heard metallic footsteps rushing into the room and Karin whispered, "What are we going to do?"

"I'll take care of this." Sasuke saw about two dozen samurai enter the main room and his eyes started to glow yellow.

The armored samurai started to look around, unaware that the floor below them took on a dark shade of purple. Then, all at once, all the samurai gave shouts of surprise as they all fell through the floor. Though no one present could think of what happened to the samurai, Sasuke knew. In his mind's eye, he could see his victims hovering in a dark void, screaming as they were being eaten alive by thousands of tiny Darklings.

Sasuke jumped off the balcony and landed on the now normal looking floor. A nearby boom could be heard as a wall crumbled into pieces. Once again, the Raikage and his two allies entered the room, with him glaring at Sasuke and shouting, "YOU! I'm going to teach you to fear _real_ fury!"

The blond-haired shinobi next to the Raikage looked around and noted, "I can't sense the samurai, yet their corpses are absent."

"Never mind that!" The Raikage snapped and charged at Sasuke.

Darkness armor covered Sasuke's body, but he stayed where he was. The floor started to darken once more, and the Raikage and his guards were quick to notice this. Figuring that it was some sort of trap, they all jumped onto the sides of the pillars and stayed in place by sending chakra to their feet.

The shinobi with dark skin and white hair jumped to the Raikage's side and said to him, "I guess the rumors about Sasuke's dark powers _were_ true. It's going to be harder to fight him while the room is still dark."

The Raikage nodded and said to him, "Use _that _justu, Darui." He turned to the blond ninja and called out, "C! Get the lights!"

Darui made some hand signs while C jumped away one pillar at a time. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and ran after C. Noticing this, the Raikage jumped and slammed him to the ground. Then out of nowhere, a bright flash engulfed the room and Sasuke felt his Darkness armor dissolve. When the flash dissipated, the lights were on and the Raikage was off of him.

Sasuke quickly looked around and saw Suigetsu and Jugo fighting the Raikage and Darui while C stood a distance away. He quickly figured that C was a sensory type ninja, judging by what he said about the samurai earlier. He looked back up at the balcony, where he figured Karin was still present. If she were to try to find Danzo now, then the other ninja would be able to pick up on her and alert the others. He looked back at C and focused his attention on his shadow.

An armored samurai stepped out of the shadow and grabbed C. Caught completely off guard, he didn't have time to react as Sasuke ran towards him with the Mangekyo Sharingan pattern in his right eye. Their eyes met and, the next thing C knew, he was caught under his genjutsu. Sasuke stopped in front of him and intensified his single-eyed glare. Without looking at the samurai, he said to him, "Release him."

**"You're not going to kill him, boss-uh, Sasuke?"** The samurai asked.

"Just help the others." Sasuke commanded as his eye returned to normal.

The samurai shrugged and released his hold on C. The shinobi dropped to the floor and curled up into a ball. From his shadow, more samurai climbed out until there were around two dozen total. They all followed Sasuke as he charged at the two remaining ninja. However, one samurai stayed behind and looked at the nearest wall. He noticed the light switch and he walked over to it. He flicked it off, then balled his hand into a fist and punched it half a foot into the wall, destroying the switch in the process. He looked at C, who was now slowly drawing out a kunai and putting it to his own throat, and laughed before joining his master's side in battle.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had joined his allies' side and said to them, "Those samurai are with us now. Stay out of their way."

"Since when-?" Suigetsu tried to say.

"What the hell are you doing?" The Raikage roared at the incoming samurai. "You're on our side, remember?"

He looked at C, wondering why he didn't warn him earlier, and saw him curled up on the ground like a frightened child. Darui also saw this and tried to run to his companion's side. However, several samurai blocked his path, and he had to fight his way through.

The remainder of the samurai joined Sasuke and the two members of Taka in the fight against the Raikage. With the light absent, Darkness armor once again formed around Sasuke and the familiar snake heads were at his side. As everyone fought, Sasuke failed to notice that Suigetsu's sword was once again cleaved in half and that Jugo was severely weakened, even in his second state. The samurai were taken down easily and their armor easily shattered from the Raikage's deadly taijutsu. There, instead of dead bodies littering the floor, there were skeletons.

At one point, Sasuke was once again grabbed and hoisted into the air by the Raikage. He remembered that even the Darkness armor didn't save him last time, so he thought of something else instead. He activated the Mangekyo Sharingan in both eyes just before he was slammed into the floor head first.

Sasuke had sustained a large headache, but he was alive. He looked around and saw a large purple, ghost-like ribcage surrounding him. A smirk appeared on his face as he slowly got up. He looked around again and he could see the upper half of a fiery purple skeleton surround him. He had been a little unsure if he could do it, but in the end, he had managed to manifest the Susano'o.

The Raikage jumped back a few feet away from him and dared to glare at Sasuke in the eyes. His whole body crackled with Lightning chakra. Sasuke now noticed that more samurai were entering the room with their swords drawn, and he knew they were not under his control. Blood dripped out of his left eye as he focused on setting the Raikage on fire.

However, his vision blurred for a second and he had instead set one samurai on fire. The Raikage charged at him, but Sasuke summoned the Amaterasu and set the ribs of the Susano'o on fire, leaving the Raikage's punch ineffective and his arm on fire. However, though his arm was burning up, the Raikage punched hard again. The punch didn't hurt Sasuke, but the impact still made him topple over backwards. The large shinobi jumped up into the air and attempted to punch him again with his bad arm.

To everyone's surprise, the Raikage's fist didn't meet the ribs of Susano'o, but a hovering wall of sand. The Raikage looked behind him and jumped away from Sasuke. The sand flew back and Sasuke cautiously stood up. Blood dripped out of the corner of his mouth and his whole body was in pain. He figured that this pain was the deadly side effect that came from using the Susano'o. He saw that along with the samurai reinforcements, three familiar faces have also appeared, faces he had not seen in three years.

One shinobi was dressed in black and he had a puppet at his side controlled by chakra strings. There was one kunoichi who had blond hair and a giant fan at her side. The shinobi in the center had red hair and a large gourd strapped to his back. Sasuke had fought that one ninja before back at the Chunin exams, and this one person was hard to forget.

"Gaara of the Sand." Sasuke said to the red-haired ninja. The Darkness armor that covered his face receded. Only Gaara's allies, Kankuro and Temari, seemed surprised to see that it was Sasuke underneath the sinister-looking armor. Gaara looked at all the samurai present and told them, "Stay back. I don't want any of you becoming casualties."

The samurai backed away at his command. The Raikage glared at Gaara and shouted, "Why are you interfering, Kazekage?"

"If you have continued to attack him," Gaara explained to him, "then you would have been further harmed by the black flames. Plus," he looked at Sasuke, "I want to tell Sasuke something."

Sasuke sensed that there was something different about Gaara. For one thing, he was no longer radiating bloodlust like he was years ago. Instead, he seemed to be more calm and composed. Also, Sasuke was slightly surprised to hear the Raikage call him "Kazekage". How did someone like him become Kazekage?

Meanwhile, unable to put out the flames of the Amaterasu, the Raikage had to cut off his own arm. Sasuke saw C join his side and heal the stump where his arm used to be. He figured that the other ninja must have broken his ally out of the genjutsu before he could kill himself. Sasuke now regretted letting him suffer instead of outright killing him. He turned to look at Gaara, who noted, "Your eyes are the same as they were in the past."

Years ago, Gaara had told Sasuke that they had the same look to their eyes: they both wanted to kill, to see blood spilt. Yet now, Gaara was telling him that it is not too late to give up on his vengeance, that if he stopped now, then he could return to the Leaf. Sasuke could immediately see that Naruto had rubbed off on him.

"Sasuke," Gaara went on, "you're a lot like me. You've been walking through this world's darkness, so even a tiny ray of light should still be able to reach you, if you just open your eyes."

"I shut my eyes to the light a long time ago." Sasuke said coldly. Before he knew it, he found himself saying, "I lived my life in darkness, and look where I am now. I stayed true to my hatred, and now look how powerful I've become." In his head, he could hear the Darkness purr with satisfaction.

**Yeeesssss, Sasuke.**

"Sasuke," Gaara blinked and a single tear rolled down from his eye, "I guess it's too late to save you now…"

A flood of sand gushed out of his gourd and raced towards Sasuke. Around the same time, Kankuro fired blades out of his puppet, Temari sent a gust of razor sharp wind with her fan, and Darui fired a red burst of energy from his hands. An explosion occurred from the combined attacks, yet Sasuke's Susano'o remained standing, with Sasuke unharmed. The Susano'o drew out its sword and slashed the pillars all at once. The ceiling gave away and rubble collapsed onto everyone.

Still shielded by the Susano'o, Sasuke made his way to the door to the next room and saw a long hallway ahead of him. On the floor in front of him was Karin, who he figured had also made it out of the collapse in time. With the Susano'o vanishing, he walked up to her and asked, "Have you found Danzo's location?"

"Yeah." Karin slowly sat up

Sasuke walked up to her and, grabbing her by her cloak, lifted her to her feet. He commanded, "Take me to him."

"Huh?" Karin looked at the rubble behind Sasuke and asked, "But what about Suigetsu and Jugo?"

"Forget about them. Hurry up and take me to Danzo!"

"R-right…" Karin lowered her head, but she still took the lead. After taking several turns at different intersections of the lit hallway (the Darkness armor had vanished at this point), they finally stood in front of a door. Karin pointed at the door and Sasuke charged sword first.

For a moment, just after slamming the door open, Sasuke saw Danzo's face. The moment after, a man charged at Sasuke with his own sword drawn. Part of the back wall gave way and Danzo, along with two other ninja, fled the scene. The next thing he knew, Sasuke was fighting the Mizukage and her guards while the Tsuchikage and his guards stood out of their way.

While they fought, just as Sasuke was about to collapse from exhaustion, many white Zetsus appeared out of all of the adversaries' bodies. They sapped every one of their chakras before they detached and briefly joined Sasuke's side and restored his chakra with theirs. It was then that the Tsuchikage decided to join the fight. He formed a giant cube of energy and rammed it into Sasuke. Pain overcame him and he passed out.

Fortunately for him, Madara managed to appear literally out of nowhere and retrieve Sasuke before the Tsuchikage's jutsu could kill him. As he slung him over his shoulder, he heard a whisper in his ear say, "Bring the girl with Sasuke when you send him away."

Madara looked at Sasuke and saw a single open eye stare at him. He knew it was the Darkness taking over again, but how did it know what he was going to do? He shrugged the thought aside as he saw the other two kage and their allies enter the room. A black vortex appeared on his mask and it sucked Sasuke up into it. Madara went over to Karin, who had kept herself out of the earlier fight, and sucked her up into the vortex as well, telling her, "Keep an eye on him."

The vortex vanished and he turned to look at everyone present. Then and there, he voiced his thoughts. What he said to everyone at the time changed the ninja world forever.

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><p>Karin looked around and couldn't believe where she and Sasuke were. It was dark, with the entire floor made up of rectangular prisms that jutted out of nowhere. The prisms themselves glowed a very dim purple, so she could somewhat see. Next to her lay Sasuke, who was still unconscious. She figured that Madara took her to…wherever she was, just so that she could heal Sasuke. However, her only method of healing was for Sasuke to bite her arm and absorb her chakra that way, and Sasuke couldn't really do that when he was out cold.<p>

She looked at him and a thought crossed her mind. She had never really been alone with Sasuke like this before. She figured that if she didn't do this now, she would never get another chance. She hovered over him and couldn't tear her eyes away from his face. She leaned in close to his face until their lips were about to touch.

Sasuke's eyes shot open.

Karin gasped and quickly backed away from him. The next thing she knew, many tendrils rose out of the floor and wrapped themselves around her legs, pinning her down. Two Darklings came up from behind her, grabbed her wrists, and pulled her arms behind her back. She gasped and tried to break away, but both the tendrils and the Darklings were too strong for her. One Darkling leaned in close to her face and snarled, **"No woman lays a hand on the boss without his say-so."**

Sasuke slowly sat up and stared at Karin with a dead look to his eyes. Karin felt like her blood had turned into ice water. He was giving her the same look he had given her back at the inn days ago. She also noticed that something dark had taken completely over his chakra. Whatever this thing was that was staring at her, it was not Sasuke.

The other Darkling looked at Sasuke and said, **"It's been so long since we've had a heart to eat. Can we have this one?"** It licked its lips. **"Pretty please?"**

Sasuke shook his head and answered, "No. Sasuke needs her help for a little while longer. After that, her heart will be his to devour."

"Sasuke!" Karin couldn't believe what she was hearing. Trembling with fear, she asked in a shaky voice, "You really wouldn't do that to me, would you?"

Without warning, both tendrils and Darklings vanished into smoke. Sasuke leaned himself back onto the floor and, still looking at Karin, answered, "As long as you don't fail him, Sasuke will not kill you." A dark chuckle escaped his lips before he shut his eyes again.

Karin stayed where she was. She shuddered and rubbed her hands against her arms in an attempt to warm herself up. She saw wisps of dark smoke caress Sasuke's injuries, with some of them entering him through his slightly open mouth. This was like at that time at the inn.

Though she told no one, on that day, she decided to check up on Sasuke. When she cracked the door open, she saw those same wisps of smoke enter his body through his mouth and nostrils. She was afraid, but she could see his chakra levels rising rapidly, meaning that the Darkness was somehow healing him. Looking at him now, she saw that the exact same thing was happening.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Sasuke wouldn't really kill her…would he? Days ago, she would have thought that the very idea was absurd. Now, however, after seeing his dark change in both personality and chakra, she could actually see Sasuke doing such a thing.

Karin could only place her faith in Sasuke and hope that such a thing will never happen.

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><p><strong>This is probably the most Sasuke has ever used the Darkness…so far. Next time, Sasuke fights Danzo, once again unaware that a certain author is going to skip all but the last portion of the fight since it takes place outside in the sun.<strong>

**If anyone has noticed, I have labeled this story as a "horror/tragedy" for a reason. Keep that in mind as the story progresses.**


	19. Chapter 19:  Corruption

**Disclaimer: I do not own… oh never mind! Everyone should know what the disclaimer is by now.**

**As a reminder, the majority of the fight between Sasuke and Danzo is going to be skipped, save for the very end (anyone who has read the manga will know what part I'm talking about). I will also glaze over the battle between Sasuke and…whoops, that's just saying too much.**

**Warning: this chapter has moments that might make you feel sick.**

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><p>Chapter 19: Corruption<p>

Sasuke felt very refreshed when he woke up, but he immediately saw that he was in an unfamiliar location. It was a dark void, with rectangular prisms making up the floor. Their dim purple glow was the only light source, though he could see fine without it. He slowly sat up and saw Karin a few feet away from him.

Looking at her now, he saw that her eyes were wide and she was staring back at Sasuke with a fearful expression on her face. She cautiously asked, "Sasuke?"

"Where are we?" He asked.

Instead of answering, Karin asked, "Is that… really _you_, Sasuke?"

"What makes you ask that?"

"It's just that…" Karin lowered her head, "you didn't seem like yourself a while ago."

Sasuke was confused, but he just asked her, "What happened while I was out?"

Karin told him about Madara sending the two of them to their current unknown location. She also told him what had just happened around half an hour ago, though she was almost hesitant to speak at first. Sasuke lowered his head and glowered at the prism floor. He thought to the Darkness, _You possessed my body while I was unconscious?_

**She was too close to you. She would have killed you had I not intervened.**

Sasuke snapped his head up. He immediately asked Karin, "Were you trying to kill me?"

"What?" Karin stared at him with both surprise and confusion on her face. "I would never do that to you, Sasuke! Never! What made you think that?"

"Then what was the last thing you did before the Dark-before I woke up?" Despite the evidence against him, Sasuke did not want Karin to think he was losing control over his own powers.

"I told you," Karin insisted, "I was just watching you when you suddenly woke up!"

Sasuke stood up and approached Karin. Scared once more, she quickly got up on her feet and backed away from him. She asked, "What are you doing?"

"You're lying." Sasuke glared at her.

"No, I-," she suddenly blurted, "Sasuke, you wouldn't really kill me, would you?"

"Am I interfering with something here?" A familiar voice asked.

Sasuke turned around and saw Madara looking in his direction. Turning his back to Karin, he said to him, "Nothing that concerns you."

"Well, when you're done," Madara said, "there's someone waiting for you."

"Let's go then. Get us out of here."

The black vortex appeared again from the eyehole of Madara's mask and sucked both Sasuke and Karin in before Madara himself followed suit. They arrived outside on a very large stone bridge. The sun was up and, judging by its position in the sky, Sasuke could tell that it was early afternoon. He looked across the bridge and saw someone familiar.

Standing at the other end was Danzo. The cloak that had covered the right side of his body was missing and Sasuke was able to get a good look at his right arm. Implanted in it in various spots were several eyeballs, all with the Sharingan pattern on them. Sasuke's own Sharingan activated at this sick sight. Sasuke clenched his fists and snarled in a low voice, "You sick bastard…"

"Sasuke Uchiha…" Danzo looked him over with his only revealed eye. "Hmph…perfect, I can go ahead and take both your Sharingan."

From behind him, Sasuke could hear Madara tell Karin to back away, that this was his fight. They both backed away a few feet, leaving the bridge all to Sasuke and Danzo. Staring at Danzo's right arm, Sasuke asked coldly, "How did you get those?"

"Various ways," Danzo simply answered, "it's a long story."

"I'd rather not hear it, but there is one thing I want to know from you. Is it true that you and the other elders of the Leaf ordered Itachi to murder the entire Uchiha clan?"

Instead of answering, Danzo made some hand signs and charged forward. Sasuke's eyes quickly shifted to the Mangekyo Sharingan pattern. Just as Danzo was about to punch him, the Susano'o's ribcage appeared around Sasuke and shielded the attack. From the ribcage, one skeletal hand emerged and snatched Danzo into the air. Sasuke shouted at him, "I asked you if it's true!" The Susano'o's grip tightened. "Answer me!"

Danzo coughed and hacked up blood. He muttered, "I never thought he was that kind of man. Itachi…told you everything on his dying breath, didn't he? It seems that you alone…were special to him."

"So it's true." In response to Sasuke's anger, the rest of the Susano'o materialized.

"Self-sacrifice is the meaning of shinobi." Danzo explained. "Many shinobi, not just your brother, died to maintain peace. You don't know Itachi's will; you will never understand. But by telling you all this, Itachi has betrayed the Lea-."

The Susano'o tightened its grip further until Danzo seemed to explode in its hand. Blood splattered everywhere, and Sasuke was satisfied to see the mess that used to be one of the elders of the Leaf. He said to the mess, "Don't say anything else about Itachi…"

"Fine," a voice said from behind him, "let's just battle with our eyes instead."

Sasuke turned around to face Danzo. He didn't know if it was genjutsu or something else altogether, but either way, Sasuke didn't care. Actually, he was glad his adversary was still alive. He really wanted to see his victim suffer more before he killed him.

* * *

><p>Throughout the battle, Sasuke saw that the eyes on Danzo's arm closed one by one each minute. During that time, Danzo managed to dodge all attacks that would have normally killed him. Sasuke didn't know just what jutsu Danzo was using, but at one point, he heard him refer to it as "Izanagi". Outside of his ocular powers, Danzo also employed Wood Style and Wind Style jutsu in battle.<p>

After around ten long minutes, Danzo was in critical condition, with his right arm missing and a bad wound on his abdomen. Sasuke's eyes were sore from his constant use of both the Amaterasu and the Susano'o, and his whole body ached. At the end of the fight, Karin ran to Sasuke's side and had him bite her arm so that he could have his chakra restored.

However, after she healed him, Danzo used this opportunity to ambush her and take her hostage. The bandages over his right eye unraveled, revealing one more Sharingan eye. Pinned between Danzo's body and remaining arm, Karin could only plea for Sasuke's help.

"You talk about self-sacrifice," Sasuke slowly said to Danzo, "yet you take a hostage?"

"It's…not like…my life is too precious or anything," Danzo said weakly, "it's that…I cannot die…for the sake of the Leaf…and of the entire shinobi world. I will be…the reformer of the world…and this woman…will help me do it."

"Sasuke…" Karin clawed at Danzo's arm, but he refused to release her.

To Sasuke, Karin looked pathetic. How could she be taken hostage so easily? Her eyes were filled with fear and they started to tear up. Sasuke could tell that she was afraid to die, that she was powerless when caught in the middle of danger. He told her, "Don't move, Karin."

He slowly raised his arm. Danzo tightened his hold on his hostage, wondering just what his opponent was going to do. Karin relaxed some, seeing that Sasuke was going to save her from danger. In her mind, this whole predicament was like something out of a romance novel. Sasuke would save her, everything will be fine-.

**She is worthless. Kill her.**

Without hesitation, Sasuke fired a Chidori spear through Danzo…and Karin. They were both caught completely off guard. Danzo had no idea that Sasuke would be heartless enough to attack his own teammate just to get to him. Out of everyone present, however, Karin was the most shocked. Looking at Sasuke now, he looked like a demon wearing a human's face. His eyes were cold, with no remorse of what he had just done. She croaked, "Sasuke…why-?"

"You asked me if I would ever kill you, Karin," Sasuke addressed her after the spear vanished, "and I never did answer. To answer your question, I would only kill you if you were no longer useful to me. If you could be taken hostage so easily, then your usefulness has ended."

Karin tried to say something, but it only came out as a croak. Danzo dropped her and started to hobble away from Sasuke. After a few feet, however, Madara came and blocked his path, saying, "I'll take that eye."

"No!" Danzo tore his shirt open, revealing several black rectangular markings on his chest. He shouted, "For the sake of the shinobi world, and for the Leaf, I cannot let you two live!"

"Sasuke, get back!" Madara exclaimed as he ran from Danzo.

The marks drew themselves together, forming a gaping hole on Danzo's chest*. Upon seeing this, Sasuke took Madara's advice and ran from Danzo. As he made his way to the end of the bridge, he heard a loud noise behind him, something that resembled powerful suction. When he did reach the end, he turned around and saw a deep circular groove in the middle of the bridge where Danzo used to be. When the noise stopped, Sasuke cautiously walked over to the edge of the groove and looked down.

At the bottom was the lifeless form of Danzo. Madara was at his side and was inspecting his corpse closely. Sasuke jumped down and walked up to Madara. He turned around to face Sasuke and explained, "That was a sealing jutsu. If we hadn't gotten away from it, then we would have been sealed into his corpse. That…" he looked at Danzo's corpse again, "was close."

Madara placed a hand on Danzo and the vortex appeared from the eyehole of his mask again. Sasuke told him, "Don't get rid of him just yet."

The vortex vanished and the corpse remained in place. Wondering what was on his mind, Madara asked, "What is it?"

"I wouldn't normally do something like this," Sasuke said as he crouched by Danzo and took out a kunai, "but this one deserves it."

**Yeeeessssssss…**

Close to the edge of the hole that Danzo had left behind, Karin could hear every word that was exchanged between Sasuke and Madara. She put a hand over her wound and winced in pain. Sasuke had almost killed her, and she had a feeling he would finish the job soon if she didn't get away.

"Sasuke," she heard Madara say, "what are you-?"

There was a sound of flesh being torn open. Sounds of organs squelching, slurping, munching, and other similar sounds soon followed. Karin's eyes widened and she knew she had to get away. She reached her arms forward and slowly dragged herself away from the hole.

"Tell me," she heard Madara say, "are you really Sasuke, or am I speaking to the Darkness?"

"Just what are you saying?" She heard Sasuke ask. "I was weakened and now I…I've never felt better. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Not at all, but…what are you going to do with the woman? If she really is useless to you, then I suggest finishing her off; she knows too much about us."

Karin froze for a moment. She tried to move faster, but that only resulted in more blood pouring out of her wound. She heard the conversation end with Sasuke saying, "Us? What makes you think I've joined your side?"

"We'll meet again soon."

Karin continued to crawl away, until she saw a pair of feet in front of her. The next thing she knew, she was rolled on her back and she was staring at a familiar face. It was Sasuke, though his mouth was stained red and his expression seemed emotionless. He crouched over her and said to her, "Actually, there is one last thing you can do for me."

"Sasuke…" Karin said weakly, "what…?"

Without warning, he took out a bloody kunai and tore her cloak off. He placed a bloodstained hand between her breasts and Karin's eyes widened. Normally, she would have blushed, but now, her fear escalated as she felt her heart beat against Sasuke's hand. He said, "Danzo's heart healed me some, but I'm not at my full strength…yet." He raised the kunai into the air.

"Sasuke!" Karin pleaded. "Don't do this…to me." Tears welled up and blurred her vision. "Please…I love-!"

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke lowered the kunai and stood up. His grip on the kunai tightened as he saw a familiar person standing a few yards away from him. Facing him with a white cloak around her shoulders was Sakura. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Sakura…what are you doing here?"

"I…" Sakura hesitated before blurting out, "I've gone rogue from the Leaf! I'm here to join you!"

Sasuke did not believe her. Suspicious, he asked, "What are you plotting?"

"I'm not plotting anything! Ever since you left the Leaf, I've regretted not going with you." A pained look appeared on her face. "I don't want any more regrets, so…I'll do whatever you want me to do."

"Do you even know what I want?"

"No, but as long as I'm with you, it doesn't matter-."

"I want to destroy the Leaf."

Sakura's eyes widened at his revelation. He pressed on, "You may have left the Leaf, but are you willing to betray it?"

"Y-yes," she stammered, "if that's what you really want."

"Prove it to me then." Sasuke stepped to the side, allowing Sakura to see Karin. He told Sakura, "Cut out her heart. Do this for me, and I'll know you aren't lying to me." He was going to kill Sakura anyway, but he just wanted to see how she would react.

Sakura lowered her head and slowly took out a kunai of her own. She took a few steps forward, then stopped to ask, "Who is she?"

"Her?" Sasuke glanced at Karin and answered, "She used to be a member of my team, but as you can see, she's useless now. You can replace her once you kill her."

Sakura continued to walk forward, her eyes not leaving Sasuke's until she was beside him. She looked at Karin and grasped her kunai tighter. Sasuke looked at her kunai and saw that her hands were trembling. He asked, "What's the matter, Sakura? Can't you do it?"

Sakura gulped and tried to steady her hands. With her back to him, Sasuke thought the moment couldn't be more perfect. He put away his kunai and raised his arm back. His arm crackled with Lightning chakra and he struck.

His arm didn't strike Sakura. Instead, his arm was deflected to the side by another ninja. Sasuke jumped back, as did Sakura and the new arrival, Kakashi. Sasuke's eyes went to Sakura, then to Kakashi, and he muttered, "One after the other…" He expected Naruto to follow soon enough.

"Sakura," Kakashi said to her, "you wanted to kill Sasuke by yourself, didn't you?"

Before she could answer, he went on, "There's no need for you to carry such a heavy burden. If anyone should carry it, it should be me." He looked at Sasuke and said to him, "Sasuke, I don't like to repeat myself, but I'll say this once more: don't become possessed by vengeance!"

Three years ago, Kakashi said something similar to Sasuke after his fight with Naruto. Years later, his words had not changed. How could his old sensei be so stupid? Sasuke chuckled at this, then laughed out loud. He had not remembered the last time he had laughed like that, if at all. His laughter shortly died down, and he said, "Give me back Itachi. Give me back my family! Do that andI'll stop right now!"

"Sasuke," Kakashi tensed, "I don't want to kill you."

"Really? You have no idea how much I want to kill _you_ right now."

"Sakura," Kakashi turned to Sakura, "take that girl and heal her, then get out of here."

"Kakashi-sensei-." Sakura tried to say.

"This is my burden, now get out of here!"

Sakura hesitated for a moment before giving a single nod. She ran over to Karin, picked her up, and quickly ran off. Kakashi uncovered his Sharingan eye and stared at Sasuke with it. Just seeing that eye made Sasuke angry and he snapped, "You're not an Uchiha! You don't deserve that eye!"

With that, another battle had started. With Sasuke's increased anger and hatred, when he summoned the Susano'o, it changed its form. Instead of a skeleton, it now looked like an armored fiend, with its armor bearing the same design as Sasuke's Darkness armor. Its weapon of choice had also changed from a sword to a fiery crossbow.

At the end of the bridge, Sakura had done what she could to heal Karin. She was still weak, but she would live. Sakura looked over at the bridge and now saw that the battle was taking place on the river that ran underneath the bridge. She knew Kakashi told her to leave, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She didn't want Kakashi to fight by himself, plus, even though he said it wasn't her burden to kill Sasuke, she still felt like it was.

Sakura knew she had to join the fight, but she had to make sure Karin was safe first. She turned around and noticed some thick trees nearby. She picked up Karin and headed over there, figuring she would be safe there. She placed her in the shade and said, "I'll be back."

Seeing that she was in shade, Karin begged, "No…don't leave…"

Sakura was already gone by then. Karin knew that, with Sasuke wanting to kill her now, she was not safe in any form of darkness. She tried to stand up, but her legs quickly gave way and she stumbled. She felt something cold slither onto her shoulder and she slowly turned her head around to see what it was.

Back under the bridge, Kakashi tried to reason with Sasuke, but he wouldn't have any of it. Sensing that someone was close, Sasuke turned around and saw Sakura charging at him with a kunai in her hand. He grabbed her by the throat before she could strike at him and squeezed it tightly. He fished out the bloody kunai and struck at her chest.

His kunai was blocked by another and Sakura was whisked away by another individual. As expected, it was Naruto. Like Kakashi, Naruto tried to reason with him, even going far enough to say that he understands what he's feeling.

**KILL HIM…**

The Darkness's words were commanding and impatient. Long fed up with his former teammates, Sasuke shouted at them, "You don't understand! I want to destroy the Leaf and all you Senju bastards that live in it! Already I've killed one of your precious elders, the one called Danzo!" His eyes lit up with excitement and insanity. "Yes…I've killed him, and I ate his heart too, and I'll do the same thing to everyone who wanted the Uchiha dead."

Sasuke charged a Chidori and charged at his former team. Naruto also charged with his signature Rasengan and they both clashed. It was just like three years ago, when their attacks met at the waterfall of the Final Valley. Both attacks negated each other and both ninja jumped back away from each other.

As they both stared each other down, Naruto spoke, "Sasuke… you know, the village used to hate me, just because I had the Kyubi inside me, and I hated them for it. I wanted revenge, and I never thought I would never make any friends, but I did. There are people out there who are kind to me and care about me, and it was because of them that I no longer hated the village.

"I knew you were alone too, so I tried to befriend you…but you became my rival. You were so cool and good at everything, and I wanted to be like you. Rivals, friends…it's a bond I want to protect. That bond is still there, Sasuke, you know that. You could have killed me three years ago, but you didn't, and I know that it wasn't just out of a whim."

Sasuke did not want to admit it, but he could never really bring himself to kill this idiot. Ever since the massacre, he was a lone wolf, yet this one boy wanted to be friends with him. Despite his grief and hatred, despite them being polar opposites, Naruto wanted to be there for him, no matter what. They were, and still are, complete opposites, like fire and water, earth and sky, light and-.

Sasuke suddenly remembered Kazunori's words in one of his dreams.

_You see, every wielder of the Darkness has a "light" that they must hang onto in order to retain their "selves". Should that light ever die, then that wielder will lose his "self" and his very being will merge with the Darkness, giving it complete control._

Then he remembered his talk with Madara.

_"Your light has to be someone close to your heart," _he had said, _"or rather, someone who keeps your humanity in check."_

_"Someone close? But I've already lost my entire family! There is no one else close to my heart!"_

_"If that was true, then you would have already lost your 'self'."_

_"Then who-?"_

"Naruto." Sasuke stared at the orange-clad ninja that stood before him. "You were right; we were both friends and rivals back then. Try as I might, I can't convince you that this bond has long been broken. As long as you live, that bond will never truly be destroyed. As long as you're my light in the darkness, I… cannot become one with the Darkness."

Sakura and Kakashi didn't know what he was talking about, but Naruto did. He said slowly, "The…Darkness? You don't mean that thing that's inside you, do you?" He nearly screamed, "Why would you want to do that?"

"Enough." Sasuke charged another Chidori. "Either you kill me here and become a hero of the Leaf, or I kill you and destroy everything you hold dear." He ran at Naruto.

Not having any time to say something else, Naruto charged another Rasengan in the palm of his hand and he ran to meet his opponent once more.

* * *

><p><strong>Whaaaaat? Sasuke ate Danzo's heart! He tried to kill Karin! He…<strong>_**wants**_** to be one with the Darkness? Has he finally lost it? Next time, the quick conclusion to this fight between former friends is at hand. Also, Sasuke wants Madara to do something for him.**

***= I did not see the translated anime online around this point and the manga was not clear on the details, so I am making up what happened during the sealing. I know the jutsu's effect, just not the whole process.**

**Sigh…I wish would let me put in extra exclamation marks in this story…**

**Ok, fellow readers, I am close to the point where I am going to break away from the main story. Are you glad? Excited? Disappointed? Review and let me hear your opinions. **


	20. Chapter 20:  Seeing Darkness

**If I owned Kishimoto-san's "Naruto", then Sasuke wouldn't have gone to Orochimaru in the first place. If I owned Top Cow's "The Darkness", then that would be beyond awesome. Sadly, I do not own any of these works.**

"_**Everything you say to me (brings me one step closer to the edge, and I'm about to break)."**_** Partial lyrics to Linkin Park's "One Step Closer".**

* * *

><p>Chapter 20: Seeing Darkness<p>

Both Sasuke's Chidori and Naruto's Rasengan clashed once again, but with more force this time. Instead of negating each other like last time, there was an explosion that blew them both away from each other. Kakashi managed to catch Naruto before he fell into the water, but Sasuke was heading towards one of the stone supports of the bridge. Instead of colliding into it, however, he hit something else instead, something somewhat soft. He regained his balance on the water's surface and turned to see what he had just hit.

It wasn't something he had collided with, but some_one_. That someone was the white Zetsu. Looking at him, it seemed like he was unharmed from "catching" Sasuke. Still, why was he here? Sasuke inquired Zetsu on that.

"I was following you this whole time." Zetsu explained. "Tobi told me that I shouldn't let you see me, but," he looked at Naruto and the others, "this is a special situation."

Sasuke figured Madara didn't completely trust him, since Zetsu was here to keep an eye on him, and he didn't blame him. He looked at Naruto, who was now looking at his fists for some reason. He lifted his head up and said to Sasuke, "I get it…it's all clear now."

The familiar black vortex appeared next to Sasuke and Madara arrived. He looked at Naruto, then told Sasuke and Zetsu, "I'll arrange the proper time and place to fight them. Zetsu, go back to your black half and reunite with him. Sasuke, we're leaving."

Zetsu nodded and sank into the water. Sasuke, however, said, "I'm not done here."

"Sasuke," Madara scolded, "look at yourself, you're still weak from that last battle."

"I've already recovered my strength from Danzo's heart and Karin's."

"You've abused your ocular powers. Tell me, how well can you actually see?"

In truth, Sasuke's vision was already deteriorating. Looking at Madara now, Sasuke could only see blurs of black, red, and orange. Looking at his former team, he couldn't even make out their shapes. He rubbed his eyes, but his vision did not improve. Seeing that Madara was right, Sasuke lowered his head and muttered, "Tch…"

"Sasuke," Naruto took a few steps forward, "there's one more thing I want to say to you."

"Let's go." Madara sounded impatient.

"Wait." Sasuke told him. He was curious on what Naruto just had to say to him. He asked Naruto, "Well, what is it?"

"Remember what you said to me back at the Final Valley?" Naruto asked. "You know, about high level shinobi reading each other's thoughts just by exchanging blows?"

Sasuke did remember, but he said nothing. Naruto continued, "After trading blows with you, I've learned a few things. I know you have changed greatly since we last met. You're…the same Sasuke I know, but at the same time, you aren't. I think we can both tell what's going to happen if we fight again…"

Sasuke could tell that Naruto had gotten stronger just from that short fight. However, he felt like he wasn't even using all of his power. Then again, Sasuke wasn't using all of his either. Naruto finished his sentence, "Next time we fight…we're both going to die."

In Sasuke's mind, the Darkness laughed at this statement. Naruto went on, "If you invade the Leaf, then I will have to fight you. Until that day, throw all of your hate at me; I'm the only one who can handle it all. I'll bear the burden of your hate and die with you!"

A smirk spread across Sasuke's face and he laughed at this absurdity. He said, "You think you can kill me? You have no idea what I've been through since we've last met. You have no idea how powerful I've become. Fine, if you insist, then I'll kill you before I kill off everyone you hold dear. Until then, stay out of the darkness, Naruto…" He turned to Madara and told him, "Let's go."

The vortex quickly appeared and sucked both Sasuke and Madara in before vanishing.

* * *

><p>The two ninja arrived back at the petrified forest, next to the mouth of a cave*. As Madara started to walk inside, Sasuke told him, "Wait. I want you to do something for me."<p>

Madara turned around and asked, "What is it _now_?"

Sasuke never wanted to say this, but now he was getting desperate. He said, "I want Itachi's eyes."

Madara did not seem surprised at this request. He simply said, "So you're finally ready. I knew you had almost lost your sight, so this is good timing."

"I want them implanted immediately."

"Strange, I thought you didn't want them because you didn't want his eyes to see what you are going to do. Why the sudden change of thought?"

"I want my sight and the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. I need everything I can get to destroy Naruto." He glared at the blur that was Madara. "That's final."

Madara was fed up with Sasuke's bossy attitude, but he said, "Give me a few minutes to get things ready, then meet me inside." With that said, he walked into the cave.

Sasuke waited at the mouth of the cave for around five minutes before he went inside. Now out of the sunlight, Sasuke's eyes glowed yellow and he could temporarily see again. As he made his way inside, he realized that the passageway was sloping downwards. After another minute, he came to a giant, spacious cavern. In the back, he could see several more passageways. He muttered to himself, "Where are you?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and the next thing he knew, he could see through the walls. He never really knew what the Hyuga clan could see with their Byakugan, but from what he heard about them, he figured it would look like what he was seeing now. Down one passageway, in a small room, he could see a human outline that was tinged purple. Instead of seeing chakra, like the Hyuga can, he saw a beating heart inside that outline, along with all the major blood vessels that were connected to it. He couldn't really explain it, but he knew that it was Madara.

Sasuke walked across the cavern and through the one passageway until he came to the little room. In the center was an operating table and a small cabinet filled with various medical instruments. On the top of the cabinet was a small glass jar with two familiar looking eyes that were suspended in orange liquid. Shining on the surface of the operating table were large overhead bright lights (How Madara managed to get power down into this cave, Sasuke would never know.). Though he wasn't in it, the lights were bright enough to hurt Sasuke's eyes.

Waiting for him was Madara, who beckoned him forward. When Sasuke was in the light, the glow in his eyes vanished and he covered them with one hand. He heard Madara say, "I knew you would find your way here in the darkness."

"Let's just get this over with already." Sasuke muttered as he positioned himself on the table.

"You need any anesthetic?"

"No."

"Then let's get started."

Sasuke slowly removed his hand and opened his eyes, ready to receive his brother's corneas.

* * *

><p>The surgery took around an hour and half long. When it was over, bandages were wrapped around Sasuke's eyes and he was guided out of the room by Madara. Within minutes, he found himself sitting on something soft, most likely a bed. He heard Madara instruct him, "You need to rest for a few days before you can open your eyes."<p>

"Did you already forget that the Darkness can heal me?" Sasuke asked.

"Even so, you still need to rest. Tell me, do your eyes hurt?"

"No. Actually, I can already feel Itachi's power flowing into them."

"Good." Madara paused before saying, "There's something else I need to ask you."

When Sasuke said nothing, he went on to say, "Zetsu has told me that he heard you say that you wish to become one with the Darkness. Care to explain your reasoning to me?"

Sasuke mentally swore to himself on Madara finding out what he had said earlier. He said, "I don't need to tell you my reasons."

"I think you should." Madara reached a hand out for Sasuke when he felt something latch onto his arm. He saw that it was a wolf with glowing yellow eyes. It snarled as white liquid dripped out of Madara's arm*. Sasuke said, "Just because I can't see with my eyes doesn't mean I can't see with the Darkness."

The wolf removed its jaws from the arm and curled up on the bed next to Sasuke, its eyes never leaving Madara. Madara backed away from Sasuke and warned him, "If you think merging with the Darkness will give you complete control over it, you are wrong. If you let it control you, then it will destroy more than just the Leaf."

With that said, Madara left the room. With only the wolf and Sasuke in the room, Sasuke was left to his thoughts. He didn't really care if the Darkness took over him completely anymore. As long as the Leaf was destroyed, then he would be satisfied, hell, he didn't even care if the entire world was destroyed in the process. He gently felt over his eyes with two fingers. As soon as he recovered his sight, he would find Naruto.

Though his eyes didn't hurt, he could still feel the Darkness healing them. Sasuke turned his thoughts to Madara. He had been helping him this whole time, yet he knew he wanted to use him for some unspecified purpose. Though Sasuke did help Madara by trying to capture the EightTails's jinchuriki and killing Danzo, he still didn't trust him. He had the wolf bite Madara not just to protect himself, but also to set a trap in Madara's body. All Sasuke had to do now was wait for the right moment to spring it.

He laid himself down on the bed. He might as well use this opportunity to rest. Following an unspoken command, the wolf jumped off the bed and sat in front of the doorway. Sasuke didn't want anyone to ambush him while he slept, and the wolf and the hundreds of Darklings that hid in the shadows would make sure of that.

* * *

><p>Sasuke sensed that someone was approaching the room he was in and he woke up. The hairs on the wolf's back rose and it snarled like a bear. Standing at the doorway was the black half of Zetsu. Sasuke asked him, "What do you want?"<p>

"I'm here to keep an eye on you." The rough voice of the black Zetsu answered. "You've been asleep for a whole day."

Sasuke couldn't believe it. Normally, it would have taken an hour or less for the Darkness to heal him completely. He must have really been exhausted if he slept for a whole day. Either way, he said to Zetsu, "I can look after myself."

"I can't leave your side, with what's going on outside and all."

"What _is_ going on?"

The wolf backed away slowly, allowing Zetsu to enter the room. He leaned against a wall and inquired, "Tobi hasn't told you? Well, I might as well tell you, since you're bound to find out soon enough anyways. As of yesterday, Tobi has declared war on the five great villages. Today, that war is going to start."

Sasuke didn't know if he should be surprised or not. For one thing, he figured it may as well be plausible for Madara to do something stupid like that. After all, with so few people on his side, how was he supposed to win? Another thing was why he would declare war in the first place. He asked, "Does this war have something to do with the last two jinchuriki?"

"What else?"

"He's going to lose." Sasuke knew that with so few people on Madara's side, he would not win, not unless he had some sort of secret weapon. Could he use the power of the Biju that were already captured, or was he planning to…? Sasuke now understood. Madara wanted him and the Darkness on his side just so he could easily win this war.

**I told you, Sasuke. He only wants to use us.**

"I wouldn't give up on him so easily if I were you." Zetsu said. "The white Zetsu and I are more powerful than you think."

"And I assume he wants my help once I've fully recovered." Sasuke said.

"He only told me to keep an eye on you."

Without warning, something grabbed the black Zetsu and hoisted him into the air. He turned around and saw a giant claw-like hand jutting out of the wall. As he was trying to break free from it, he didn't see Sasuke unravel the bandages that covered his eyes. The next thing Zetsu knew, he was set ablaze by the Amaterasu. As his flesh bubbled and blistered, the claw retreated back into the wall, taking Zetsu with it.

"More powerful than I thought, huh?" Sasuke mocked as he stood up. He felt over his eyes and found that they did not hurt, let alone bleed, when he used the Amaterasu. With confidence in his powers, Sasuke left the room, figuring that now was the time to leave and find Naruto.

When he entered the large cavern, he saw that the walls and most of the floor were covered with a large white mass. Thousands heads poked out of the shapeless mass, and Sasuke saw that they all belonged to the white Zetsu. With so many of them present, it almost looked like Madara was _growing_ his own army of Zetsus. He didn't know if they were still developing or if they were just waiting to be deployed in battle, but either way, he knew he wasn't going to leave this place quietly.

Sasuke could have just summoned his own army of Darklings to get rid of all the Zetsus, but he was curious to see just how much he could use his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan powers. He manifested the Susano'o, whose form had once again changed, if just slightly. It wore the same armor as last time, but the organic patterns on it looked like they were moving this time around. The Susano'o once again took out its crossbow and drew a bolt. The tip of the bolt lit up with the flames of the Amaterasu and the Susano'o fired it at the white mass of Zetsus.

Dozens were killed on impact while several more were burned alive. The Susano'o fired another lit bolt and many more perished. Sasuke thought this would take too long, so he had his Susano'o change its crossbow into a sword. He glanced all around the room and everything was set on fire. Thousands of painful screams echoed in the wide open cavern. Sasuke slowly made his way across the room, with the flames parting wherever he stepped. Occasionally, the Susano'o would swing its sword at different spots in the mass, as if making doubly sure that the Zetsus perished.

By the time Sasuke reached the other side, the smell of burnt corpses had filled his nostrils, and he welcomed it. He turned around and, with his Darkness vision, he could literally see the life leave the bodies of everyone present in the form of a vanishing red mist. Though everyone was dead now, he left the Amaterasu to burn away the remains. He blinked and he realized that there wasn't any pain in his eyes, and he didn't even feel blood drip out of them. Satisfied with his handiwork, the Susano'o vanished and Sasuke made his way back up.

He froze as he once again sensed someone nearby. Near the mouth of the cave, he could see the purple outline of a person entering the cave, its heart beating in a calm, steady rhythm. This person was not Madara, yet it somehow seemed familiar to Sasuke. Accompanying this form was another, though it was smaller and more serpentine in shape. The serpent-like form slithered on ahead and Sasuke saw that it was a white snake with yellow eyes. Now suspicious, Darkness armor covered Sasuke and he called out, "Who's there?"

"Well, well, well," a familiar voice answered, "if it isn't Sasuke Uchiha. How long has it been since we've last met?"

A figure in a crimson cloak revealed himself. The snake slithered up his leg and around his body until its head was resting on his shoulder. Underneath the hood of the cloak, Sasuke saw a familiar face, yet this figure wasn't quite the same person he had known for the past three years. His skin was white and scaly and he had a cracked smile on his face. Glasses covered his yellow snake eyes and the purple markings that were underneath them.

Sasuke couldn't really tell if this person was supposed to be Kabuto or Orochimaru.

* * *

><p><strong>As of now, I have officially broken away from the main story. Next time, just who is this person, and what does he want? Those of you who have read the manga will know the answer to both questions.<strong>

***= I have just found out that this place **_**does**_** have a name: Mountains' Graveyard.**

***= For some reason, Madara bleeds white instead of red. The manga has yet to explain this strange phenomenon.**

**Since it is the beginning of January, I will have less spare time to work on this story. Please be patient with me.**


	21. Chapter 21:  Achluophobia

**Disclaimers are like swear words: they eventually lose their value when used too many times.**

**Correction notice: I had forgotten that the snake that always accompanies Kabuto (yes, it's him) is actually attached to his body.**

"_**We never leave our chosen. We're not a virus you can sweat out, not a parasite you can vomit away. We are not inside you, Jackie, we never were. You are inside **_**us**_**. You were **_**born**_** in us and you will **_**die**_** in us." **_**The Darkness to Jackie Estacado, **_**The Darkness: Accursed Vol.1**_**.**

**More disturbing and depressing content in this chapter, just so you know.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 21: Achluophobia*<p>

"You've changed." Sasuke noted to the person that stood before him.

"Yes, well," the snake person answered, "I guess this is what happens when you absorb Lord Orochimaru's cells and let them take over after a period of a few days."

At least Sasuke now knew just who he was talking to. He said, "I assume you didn't come here by accident, Kabuto."

"No, I didn't. I'm here to help Madara win his war."

"Why? What would you gain by helping him?"

Kabuto chuckled darkly and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He answered, "Why, _you_, of course. I've wanted an Uchiha as a test subject for some time now."

"And the Darkness, too, I take it?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

Kabuto tensed. He said icily, "No. I see why Lord Orochimaru wanted the Darkness, but this is one desire of his that I cannot accept. Ever since you absorbed him, ever since the Darkness _looked_ at me, I don't want anything to do with that monstrosity."

"You can't deal with me without dealing with the Darkness." The twin demon snakes rose out of his shoulders and hissed at Kabuto. Kabuto's eyes widened and his legs wobbled. The snake that was with him withdrew its head. Sasuke saw his heart rate skyrocket and he could hear the Darkness chuckle at Kabuto's reaction.

**This one is afraid of us. Fear makes their hearts all the more delectable.**

"G-get rid of those things." Kabuto stammered slightly as he took a step back. "I didn't come here to see you anyways. I came here to see Ma-."

"Scared, Kabuto?" Sasuke smirked. "You weren't so afraid earlier. You're scared of the Darkness, aren't you?"

Kabuto said nothing, but he continued to back away. Sasuke took one step forward and Kabuto bolted. Sasuke stayed where he was and decided to let him go. In his mind, that man was too pathetic to kill. The snakes shook their heads, their hisses sounding like disappointed sighs. Though Sasuke didn't really care about Kabuto, the Darkness did, but why? Was it because Kabuto was so afraid of it, or was it just that hungry for another heart?

Sasuke walked out of the cave and underneath the early afternoon sun. The demon snakes hissed in pain and retreated inside their host while the armor vanished. The sunlight stung Sasuke's eyes, but they quickly adjusted. He wondered whether he should start pursuing Naruto now or try to find Kabuto.

His thoughts and emotions conflicted with each other. His mind was set on finding Naruto, yet some sadistic side of him wanted to see Kabuto suffer. No matter which one he would decide, however, he would have to find them first. An idea crossed his mind, but he would have to find a dark, secure place that was far from Madara first. Then again, no matter where he went, Madara always seemed to find him.

Another idea struck his brain. Sasuke saw a tree up ahead and he walked up to it. Standing underneath the shade, he shut his eyes and he sank into the shadows. Hovering in a dark void, Sasuke figured that unless Madara had the ability to delve into darkness, then he would not be found in this space.

If Sasuke could put his mind to it, then he could look around different parts of the world from every existing shadow present*. However, if he waited until night, then he could search the whole world at once. The latter choice sounded better to him, so he decided that he would wait.

Several hours passed, and from the shadows, Sasuke could see the sun finally setting. When it vanished under the horizon, he finally opened his eyes.

To say that the whole experience was overwhelming would be a grand understatement. Millions of images flashed before his eyes and in his mind all at once. Save for lit cities and rooms, Sasuke felt like he was truly omnipresent. With the Darkness, he felt like he had the powers of a god.

Sasuke had no problem finding Naruto. He was inside a dark cave on a gigantic island turtle. An unbelievable amount of power was emanating from his body and he was glowing a golden yellow. His eyes were shut, his heart was beating in a steady rhythm, and he was sitting cross-legged on the ground. Looking like that, it almost seemed like he was meditating.

Sasuke couldn't believe how much power Naruto had in his body, yet it still paled in comparison to the Darkness. Still, seeing him in a vulnerable position in near complete darkness made Sasuke think that Naruto had disregarded his earlier advice of staying out of the shadows. If it wasn't for that bright golden glow of his, then Sasuke would have killed off Naruto there and now.

Naruto suddenly opened his eyes, which were now orange, and he stared at one particular direction. Sasuke tensed up. It was as if Naruto was looking directly at him. He had sensed his presence in the shadows, but how? Sasuke looked away from the cave and the island turtle and decided to look for Kabuto.

From the shadow of an unconscious kunoichi, he found Kabuto. Unfortunately, the room was completely lit, so he couldn't see too much out of this woman's shadow. He didn't even know why this woman was unconscious and present, but it didn't matter to him. He eyed Kabuto and somewhat saw what he was doing.

He was sitting on the floor, hunched over a large piece of paper with little wooden figurines placed on top of it in various places. Sasuke could hear him mutter something about the war and battle positions, so he figured he was looking at a map. Occasionally, Kabuto would look at the white snake that was with him and nod at it, as if they were having a telepathic conversation.

Sasuke thought that he had a better chance of getting Kabuto than Naruto. After all, with Kabuto still wearing his cloak, there was still darkness that Sasuke could use to his advantage. In the dark space between the cloak and Kabuto's back, a black hole appeared. From the void, Sasuke reached through it, grabbed his victim, and pulled him into the void, leaving his cloak behind.

* * *

><p>Ever since seeing the bloody aftermath of The Darkness's awakening, Kabuto had started to fear the dark. When the Darkness glared at him after the failed Transference Ritual, the fear became much worse. In those red eyes, he had seen his own future flash before his eyes, as well as all the terrible tortures that could only originate from Hell. Since that moment, he always stayed away from dark places.<p>

He turned the lights on in every room he entered, he never slept in the dark, and he always had nightmares of the Darkness. He kept an eye on every shadow he passed by, as if expecting something to jump out at him at any minute. Even after absorbing his master's remains, Kabuto was still afraid.

Like Orochimaru, he wanted to study and experiment with the Sharingan, and that meant getting Sasuke. With the boy possessing the Darkness, however, Kabuto felt like he had a better chance with Tobi. Nevertheless, he started looking into ways of possibly getting rid of the Darkness, or at least separate it from Sasuke. So far, he figured that only sealing jutsus would be effective.

Kabuto wanted to try one of these jutsus when he found Sasuke earlier that day, but his fear of the Darkness overcame him and he ran. For the rest of the day, he tried to keep his mind off of Sasuke and the Darkness. He tried to capture both the EightTails and the NineTails on that island turtle, but he only managed to capture Naruto's guardian, Yamato, instead.

Knowing that Yamato had the First Hokage's cells inside him, he turned him over to Madara, saying that they can use him to strengthen the army of White Zetsus. He knew that one army was killed off by Sasuke earlier, but Madara revealed that he had more Zetsus in another spot as backup, just in case something like that happened. Kabuto then went off again and captured Orochimaru's former pupil, Anko Mitarashi. Because she had a curse mark, Kabuto was able to draw power from her to use for his own purposes.

That night, though he had the lights on in the room, he was afraid to fall asleep after seeing Sasuke hours earlier. Instead of resting, he went ahead and started summoning dead shinobi for his army. He had just brought out the majority of his troops and started marking their positions when he felt someone pull him into the dark folds of his own cloak.

As of right now, Kabuto had no idea where he was, but he knew it was completely dark. His eyes widened and he started hyperventilating as his fear reached its peak. He tried to run, but he couldn't move, he tried to scream, but he had lost his voice, he tried to think, but his mind had become a hopeless mess of intelligible thoughts.

**"Kabuto…"** A familiar voice called out to him.

Kabuto stiffened at the sound of that voice. On one hand, it sounded like the Darkness from his nightmares. On the other, it sounded just like Sasuke Uchiha. Either way, it was a voice that was all too familiar to him.

**"I know you're afraid of me." **The voice whispered in his ear. **"Your heart says it all. You can't run, you can't hide, so are you going to beg for mercy? Never mind, I'd rather not hear it."**

Kabuto felt several sharp claws plunge themselves into his chest. He opened his mouth to scream, but he felt several long, slimy things wrap themselves around it. He still tried to scream, but they only came out as muffled cries. He could feel the claws cradle his heart for a few seconds before they slowly started to pull it out. His eyes widened as he felt all of his major arteries and veins stretch and tear like worn rubber bands.

Even with his heart absent, Kabuto was not dead. No, he knew the Darkness wouldn't allow him to die yet. In the void, he heard something munching on the tissue of his heart and slurping up the blood that oozed out of it. Never in all of his life did he want to die so badly.

**"Should I let you die now?" **The voice asked. **"I **_**could**_** continue, but I'm already tired of you."**

Kabuto had heard of people losing all sensation of pain when they are dying, but this was not the case for him. Excruciating pain ate away at every cell in his body until he finally passed away into death. Though he felt right at home in the void, Sasuke figured that he should move on to another location.

* * *

><p>He didn't know why, but when Sasuke crawled out of a shadow, he found himself in one of his old rooms of one of Orochimaru's hideouts. He didn't really know how he knew it was one of his rooms, he just felt like it was. Maybe with Kabuto on his mind, he had unconsciously teleported to one of the hideouts.<p>

The room was like the others: one bed, one dresser, and one unlit candle, leaving the room in complete darkness. Unlike the others, however, it had a mirror hanging on one wall. Sasuke walked up to the mirror and stared hard at his reflection.

The first thing he noticed was that the yellow glow he had in his eyes had now turned a dull orange. Blood stained his mouth and the expression on his face seemed emotionless. While he wiped the blood off his mouth, he now realized that he had left Kabuto's remains back at the void. _The Darklings can have him_, he thought to himself as he turned away from the mirror.

Another thought crossed Sasuke's mind and he turned back to the mirror. Now looking at his reflection, he had to wonder if that was _really_ him. He put his hand to the mirror, as did his reflection. He leaned close to his reflection and stared at his eyes once more. Since when did that yellow glow start to look more like a color from a sunset? What did this color change even mean? Did it have something to do with Sasuke just now eating hearts?

He fished out the two pieces of the Uchiha family photo out of his pocket and held them next to each other. Looking at his younger self, he now saw just how much he had changed over the years. Once more, he let his past memories flood his mind.

Back then, when he was a little boy, he had wanted to join the Uchiha police force and become a great ninja, just like his big brother. Back then, he had only thought of his future as a bright one, with nothing bad ever happening. Who would have thought that his whole family would have been murdered on a single night by his older brother, who was ordered to do so by the elders of the Leaf? Who would have thought that he would leave his home village just so that he could get power? Who would have thought that he would have received the most vile and powerful force in the world? Who would have thought that he would one day seek to destroy the very village that he grew up in?

Sasuke wished he could go back to those happy years. If it weren't for the Leaf, then Itachi would have never killed the entire Uchiha clan, Sasuke wouldn't have spent the majority of his life on revenge, and he never would have received the powers of the Darkness. If it weren't for the Leaf, then Sasuke would have been happy. Tears dripped down Sasuke's face. Because of the Leaf, he was slowly losing himself.

**Your family, your bonds, your humanity…**

The eyes of the younger Sasuke in the photo seemed to shimmer. Did Sasuke's tears drip onto the photo? No, the "shimmer" spread out of those innocent eyes and started to flicker. A black ember ignited the face and the tiny flame stretched to the other faces in the photo. Before Sasuke knew it, the two pieces had turned into ash in his hands.

There was nothing he could really do for his family…could he? If the Darkness could _really_ do anything, then couldn't he go back in time and kill the elders before they ordered the massacre? If he did that, then everything would be back to normal. Right away, Sasuke sensed hostility from the Darkness.

**No.**

"You can't do it?" Sasuke asked out loud.

**I will not let you separate me from you.**

Yes, if Sasuke did do this, then he will never acquire the Darkness. Still, if he could have his family back, then it didn't really matter. Besides, he could just ignore the voice and use its power to do it anyways.

**When has that ever worked for you? You are just the vessel that channels my power; **_**I **_**am the one who allows you to use it in the first place.**

Sasuke mentally swore at this. Yes, the Darkness had withheld its power on several occasions before, he couldn't deny that. However, what if he wanted to bring his family back to life? Surely even _that_ must be possible for the Darkness.

**Their souls are in the light.**

The light? Sasuke figured it must be talking about the light he saw just after he died that one time.

**I can bring back your brother; he is drowning in the darkness.**

"No!" Sasuke didn't want to believe what he was hearing. When he died, he saw his brother in the light along with the rest of his family. Yes, Itachi did kill off his family, but he never really wanted to do it in the first place. Why should he be left to suffer in some sort of hellish afterlife? Sasuke said to the entity inside him, "He was there! He was in the light!"

**That was just own your stupid delusion. Now, do you want your brother back or not? I'm sure he'll be **_**very**_** happy to see you…**

The Darkness laughed. Sasuke shook his head. He decided that it would not be the best idea to bring his brother back to life after all. What would Itachi think if he saw his brother now? He would probably say that he had turned into a monster that wanted nothing more than to destroy everything and devour the hearts of anyone who stood in his way.

Before Sasuke could think any more on the matter, he sensed that someone was here. Through the walls of the hideout, he could see two people wandering around the hallways, their hearts beating anxiously. He walked out of the room and quickly intercepted the two wanderers.

To his surprise, it was Suigetsu and Jugo. The two shinobi were more surprised to see Sasuke here. Suigetsu was the first to speak up and he said, "Whoa, never thought we would find you _this_ fast, Sasuke."

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked.

"Looking for you and Karin, what else? We didn't really know where to start, so I thought we should start by looking through all of Orochimaru's old hideouts. First hideout and we've _already_ found you, but…where's Karin?"

If Sasuke were to tell the truth, then they would immediately turn on him. Instead, he lied, "She died in battle."

Jugo lowered his head, but Suigetsu merely shrugged and said, "Sucks to be her."

"One of us was going to die eventually." Jugo muttered.

"Yeah…" Sasuke lowered his gaze. "We have to move on, though."

"So, what now?" Suigetsu asked. "Are we still working for that Madara guy?"

"No." Sasuke now wondered if it was even a good idea to keep Suigetsu and Jugo on his side. He was now so powerful, he could do without them. Now, should he let them go or kill them? On the one hand, they never did anything against him. On the other, if they were to be captured by enemy shinobi, then they might leak out something about Sasuke and his powers. He quickly made up his mind on what he should do.

"Suigetsu," Sasuke slowly said, "I need a word with you. Jugo," he turned to Jugo, "wait outside for us."

Jugo gave a single nod and he walked away. When his footsteps could no longer be heard, Suigetsu asked, "So what's this all about?"

"Suigetsu…" Sasuke paused before saying, "What if I told you that I killed Karin?"

"Huh?" Suigetsu's eyes widened. "What did she do to piss _you_ off?"

"She was weak. With my power, I no longer need you or Jugo either."

Suigetsu scowled at this. He asked, "So, are you just too good for our help now? Why didn't you want Jugo to hear-?"

From the ceiling, a giant black wolf's head lunged downwards and snapped its jaws shut around Suigetsu's whole body. Acting fast, Suigetsu liquefied his whole body and slid out from the gaps between the wolf's teeth. Sasuke had temporarily forgotten that he could turn his body into water at will. Suigetsu's head poked out of the puddle of water and he growled, "So that's how it is…"

As the wolf head rose back into the ceiling, Sasuke said, "You're more of a threat to me than Jugo." From the orange glow of his eyes, the Mangekyo Sharingan pattern could be seen, except there were three-pointed stars inside of each ellipse.

The puddle was quickly covered in black flames. Knowing that there was no way to put them out, Suigetsu's form rose out of the puddle and he charged at Sasuke. Sasuke glared into his violet eyes and he came to a sudden stop. The flames extinguished themselves and Suigetsu simply stood and stared off into space, his mind trapped in the Tsukuyomi.

Sasuke raised his arm and brought out a Chidori. He was actually looking forward to seeing Suigetsu bleed for the first time. He pulled his arm back, ready to strike, when his eyes spotted something.

Standing at the end of the hallway was Jugo. His eyes were wide and he was trembling violently. Sasuke's arm stopped sparking with electricity and he now approached Jugo. Not entirely believing what he was seeing, Jugo's voice quivered, "S-Sasuke… w-what are you-?"

"I was actually thinking of letting you live at first," Sasuke said coldly, "but now that you saw, you're going to have to die too."

* * *

><p>Scared, yet not really wanting to harm the person who he considered to be his best friend's reincarnation, Jugo ran. His thoughts ran wild in his head, <em>Why is Sasuke trying to kill Suigetsu? Does that mean he killed Karin too? What's wrong with him? Why is he doing this? <em>As he ran, he noticed that he didn't hear Sasuke running after him. Nevertheless, he didn't dare stop.

When he first arrived at the hideout with Suigetsu, several birds flew at him and told him not to enter, saying that there was something evil down there. Somewhat hoping that they were just referring to the Darkness and not Sasuke himself, he ignored their warnings and went on inside. When he left Suigetsu alone with Sasuke, halfway out of the hideout, something in Jugo's mind told him that he shouldn't have left his ally behind. When he did backtrack, he saw Sasuke trying to kill the person he had once considered to be his teammate. Jugo now regretted not heeding the birds' warnings.

After several twists and turns in the corridors, Jugo skidded to a halt. In front of him was a black wall. That couldn't be right. He had memorized the turns, so how could he have come to a dead end? He turned around, thinking that he should find another way out, and was shocked to find another black wall present. Trapped between the two walls, he now knew that this was Sasuke's doing.

The walls started to shift and move like a mirage and several Darklings of different sizes and shapes crawled out. Jugo knew that if he were to survive, then he would have to give in to his killing instincts. The curse mark spread across his body and he transformed into his second state. With his bloodlust smothering all other thoughts, Jugo laughed menacingly and started to tear the Darklings apart with his claws.

With each Darkling torn to shreds, two more appeared. They all dog-piled on Jugo and stared to tear at him with their claws and teeth. Even with his immense strength, Jugo knew that he couldn't keep this up forever.

**"Oooh, a feisty one." **One Darkling licked its lips.

**"I love it when our food fights back!" **Another laughed.

**"Save me the liver! Save me the liver!" **A smaller Darkling pleaded.

Jugo managed to fight his way out of the pile, but more Darklings came out of the walls. He tried to punch one of the walls, but he may as well be punching diamond, as it didn't even crack. He was now up to his knees in Darkings as they once again piled on top of him. They were all slowly eating him alive, and it was agonizing. In his pain and fear, the bloodlust vanished and, for the remaining few minutes of his life, he could think again.

Jugo knew that he was not going to make it out alive. Out of all the deaths possible, he never imagined that Sasuke would turn against him and have his Darklings kill him. Dying was torturous, but at least one good thing would come out of this. Maybe, just _maybe_, Jugo would be able to see Kimimaro in the afterlife.

The walls vanished into smoke and all the Darklings crawled off the blood-stained bones of what used to be a shinobi named Jugo. Sasuke walked down the corridor and inspected the bones. He didn't really want to kill Jugo, but he did not want another enemy after him. He asked the Darklings, "Did you get enough to eat?"

**"Hell yeah, Sasuke!"**

**"I'm about to explode!"**

**"I didn't get to eat the liver…"**

"Sasuke…" A familiar voice spoke up.

Sasuke turned around and saw a masked figure standing a few yards away from him. He wore an Akatsuki cloak and a light purple mask over his face with rings on it. There were three tomoe on it, one being painted near the top and the other two making up the eyeholes of the mask. Behind the right hole, there was a Sharingan eye. Behind the left one, there was a light purple eye that had rings inside it. Despite the change of masks, Sasuke still recognized the voice as Madara's.

* * *

><p><strong>Depressed? Scared? Read something happy before continuing on. Next time, a shocking (but fictional) revelation about Madara is revealed. Also, Sasuke gets an idea that could change the tide of battle between him and Naruto.<strong>

***= Achluophobia is the fear of darkness.**

***= Jackie did something similar in "The Darkness: Resurrection", except he only had to search New York City.**

"Whaaaat? You killed Kabuto, Suigetsu, _and_ Jugo? You're ruining the timeline of the whole story!" **I already said that I was going in a different direction once I caught up with the main story.**

"This is too depressing! Why are you turning Sasuke into such a sadistic emo bastard?" **It's a tragedy. If you don't like where this is going, then you are welcome to stop reading.**

**With each chapter, I am getting closer to the end of the story. If I have to guess where I am in the story right now, I would say I'm about three-fourths of the way there. Are you excited for the end? I know I am; once I'm done, I can get to work on more stories.**


	22. Chapter 22:  The Eclipse

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kishimoto-san's "Naruto" or Top Cow's "The Darkness". Without this disclaimer, then I would be plagiarizing, and plagiarism is one thing writers should never do, whether it be fanfictions for the Internet or essays for school.**

"_**Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'entrate (all abandon hope, ye who enter in)." The Divine Comedy, Inferno.**_

* * *

><p>Chapter 22: The Eclipse<p>

Madara shook his head disapprovingly and said, "Killing that woman was one thing, but your other teammates never did anything against you."

"What do you want now, Tobi?" Sasuke glared.

"Tobi? I already told you that I'm Madara Uchi-."

"I've had enough of your lies. I know that you're an Uchiha, but you're not Madara."

"And what makes you think that?" Tobi glared back.

Darkness armor covered Sasuke's body and the twin demon snakes rose out of his shoulders. The Darklings, who were still present, scampered over to their master's side, waiting for his command to attack. Sasuke explained, "I may not know Madara, but the Darkness does." The snake heads hissed and nodded in agreement. "It was there when Kazunori was killed years ago, and the real Madara was present. I don't know who you really are, but if you know so much about the real Madara, then you must be someone close to him."

Tobi sighed and muttered, "Might as well end this charade." He grabbed his mask and pulled it off. His face was heavily wrinkled and he looked too old to even be alive. Though his hair was mostly black, it was starting to gray out near the roots. He said, "Yes, I knew Madara personally, as well as Izuna and Kazunori. I was devastated to hear that the Darkness had supposedly died, yet I believed that it was still out there somewhere.

"I followed Madara and Izuna's example and killed my best friend just so that I could get the Mangekyo Sharingan. I robbed my family's graveyard just so that I could find a suitable pair of eyes to transplant into my own. I even went and stole some of Harashima's cells just so that I could extend my life. I did all of this in hopes that I would one day live long enough to see the Darkness return and for me to become powerful enough to acquire it.

"But in the end," Tobi gritted his teeth, "it chose _you_ as its host. Why did it have to be you? I hate the Leaf, the Senju, and the world more than you do! I wanted the power of the TenTails and the Darkness so that I could control the whole world and bend everyone in it to my will! I thought I could use you to do most of the work and claim the Darkness when you were no longer useful, but you just had to be the rebellious brat and leave me!"

"Are you through with your rant?" Sasuke asked impatiently. "You still haven't told me who you are."

Tobi breathed in deeply, then exhaled loudly. He asked, "You really want to know that badly? I might as well give you the honor of hearing my real name before I take the Darkness and kill you: it's Shuichi Uchiha; I'm Kazunori's brother and Izuna and Madara's father.

"I pretended to feel sorry for my brother, but the whole time, I was angry that he had the Darkness and refused to use its power. When he asked me to send my sons to kill him, I refused. However, my sons found out about his request and left without my permission. When they came back, I was outraged. I killed Izuna, since he was the one who burned my brother, and the Darkness, into oblivion, and let Madara take his eyes so that he could transplant them into his own. Madara had no qualms about me killing his brother, since he also wanted the Darkness so badly.

"He was also not the only one who was against the alliance between our clan and the Senju. When he protested against this, I was with him. When he was exiled from the Leaf, I left with him. When he came back to fight the Leaf, I was at his side. When Madara was killed in battle, I fled so that I could preserve his name, and the only way to do that was to take his identity as my own. I know you're already tired of hearing me talk, so I'll just go ahead and take what is rightfully mine."

Shuichi wove some hand signs, but then suddenly stiffened. His whole body quivered and he dropped to his knees. He screamed in agony and started clawing at his head. He screamed, "What are you doing to me?"

"Remember when the wolf Darkling bit you?" Sasuke asked. "I had it inject some of the Darkness inside you. You wanted the Darkness, so now you have some of it inside your body."

One tiny Darkling scampered up to Shuichi and asked in a nasally voice, **"Can you imagine little centipedes nibbling away at your brain? Guess what, that's exactly what's happening to you!" **It laughed sadistically.

Shuichi doubled over and started rolling around on the ground. He continued to scream and his head started to bleed as he kept clawing at it. Sasuke and the other Darklings did nothing but watch the man suffer. After a minute, Shuichi started to foam at the mouth and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He shook violently, like he was having a seizure, then he abruptly stopped moving altogether.

Sasuke had seen enough of Shuichi's jutsus to know his weakness. Shuichi may have been able to make his body intangible at times, but he couldn't do that just to get rid of something that was already inside of him. Thinking about what Shuichi had said earlier, Sasuke now had to wonder _why_ the Darkness didn't choose him as its host. He was an Uchiha and his hatred seemed genuine, so why didn't the Darkness pick him?

**He seeks to control. You seek to destroy.**

Blood started to drip out of Shuichi's eyes. A few pairs of tiny mandibles poked out from the eyelids and started to chew away at the eyes. When they were finished, they made their way out, revealing their true forms to be that of little black centipedes. A few Darklings scurried forward and snatched up the centipedes in their tiny claws before swallowing them whole. One large Darkling looked at Sasuke and asked, **"What now, boss? Who are we going to kill next?"**

**"Idiot!" **One Darkling smacked the large one across the face. **"He doesn't like to be called 'boss', remember?"**

**"Oh, yeah…"**

Ignoring their conversation, Sasuke answered, "I'm retiring for the night."

He stepped over Shuichi's corpse and made his way back to his old room, leaving the Darklings to chat and devour the corpse. He knew it was night, but he didn't really have the exact time. Either way, he was tired. He set his equipment down and settled himself on the bed.

Despite having killed Kabuto, the rest of team Taka, and Shuichi in a single day, Sasuke still managed to fall asleep without any troubling thoughts plaguing his mind.

* * *

><p><em>Sasuke was sitting in the middle of his parents' room, having just devoured Naruto's heart. He had just destroyed the Leaf and everyone in it, and he was happy, yet not satisfied. Killing off innocents had never felt so good, and he wanted more destruction. He decided that he would soon set off to destroy the other villages.<em>

_He stood up and he heard someone crying. How could he have missed one person? He walked out of the room and followed the cries of what sounded like a little boy. He soon stood in front of a closet and he slammed the door open._

_Curled up in the back corner was an eight-year old Sasuke. He turned his head and saw the older Sasuke staring at him. He gave a frightened gasp and tried to back further away into the corner. The older Sasuke reached forward and grabbed his younger self by the throat. He lifted the frightened child up and he asked, __**"Why are you still here?"**_

_"I…can't…give up!" The boy wheezed as he tried to pry the fingers around his throat off._

_**"How many times is it going to take to break you? Just give in already!"**_

_"No!" The boy fell out of Sasuke's grasp and he ran away from him._

_Sasuke didn't chase after him. Instead, he laughed and called out, __**"For someone who is trying to save Sasuke, you aren't trying hard enough!"**_

Sasuke woke up in a cold sweat. He slid out of his bed and slowly gathered his equipment together, not that he would really need them. He tried to think back to last night's dream, but all he could remember was the feeling of hatred towards the Darkness. No, that couldn't be right; Sasuke had no reason to hate the Darkness.

With his new Darkness vision as his guide, Sasuke soon found his way out of the hideout. The moment he stepped out into the light, his eyes stung and he heard a ringing in his ears. He shut his eyes and covered his ears for a minute until the painful sensations went away. After uncovering his ears and opening his eyes, he saw that it was morning.

Sasuke knew that he couldn't do anything while the sun was out, yet he did not want to say cooped up in the hideout all day either. He looked at the sky and saw the faint outline of the full moon in the sky. An outrageous idea crossed his mind. He knew that even the moon had a dark side to it, so why not use the Darkness to push the moon in front of the sun? If that worked, then the whole land would darken from the solar eclipse.

Staring at the moon, Sasuke thought that this idea was worth trying. He willed for the Darkness in its purest form to move the moon. Before his very eyes, the moon slowly made its way towards the sun. As it moved into position, a giant shadow began to creep across the land. Finally, the moon stayed in front of the sun and everything was engulfed in darkness. From the dark side of the moon, the Darkness would hold the moon in place until Sasuke had had enough of the eclipse.

The moment the moon blocked the sun, Sasuke lowered his head, not daring to look at the ring of light that was in the sky. The world wasn't as dark as it was at night, but it was still dark enough for him to use the Darkness. From where he stood, Sasuke once again set his gaze on the world itself.

From the dark side of the moon, he could see everything. At several different parts of the land, he saw many squads of ninja fighting armies of white Zetsus. What puzzled him was that even though the ninja were all from different villages, they all wore the same headband, one with the kanji for "shinobi" on it. Had the villages all united to fight against Shuichi in this war?

If that was the case, then if Sasuke attacked the Leaf, then all the other villages would come to their aid. It didn't really matter, though, since friends of his enemy were also his enemies. Under normal circumstances, Sasuke would be no match for everyone in the world. With the Darkness, however, he felt like this was one war that he had already won.

First, however, he had to find Naruto. Once Sasuke killed him, then he would be truly unstoppable. Sasuke blinked and his vision returned to normal. He walked forward until he came across a large clearing. Deciding to try something new again, he crouched and spread his arms out to the sides.

A black fog appeared out of the darkness and surrounded his whole body. The fog turned into a shapeless form that quickly grew bigger. Four wings shot out and a long neck and tail sprouted out of opposite ends. Two legs poked out from the bottom and the overall form stretched out some. The fog slowly vanished and the details of the newborn monstrosity could be seen.

Obsidian scales covered its entire body and claws poked out of its toes. Its mouth had dozens of rows of unnervingly sharp and jagged teeth. Two twisted horns poked out of its head, with several straight ones jutting out of the end of its tail. Its eyes glowed a dull orange and its glow looked like it was shifting and moving inside the eyes like hot lava.

The dragon roared and flapped its four wings, sending the branches of the nearby trees flying. It flapped its wings some more and it jumped into the sky. Below on the ground, a wave of dark fog had gathered. The dragon flew off in search of its prey, with the fog following it like a flash flood.

* * *

><p>It did not take the dragon long for it to reach the first battle zone. The warring shinobi and white Zetsus stopped to stare at this unbelievable sight. Everyone's hearts were beating frantically, and the dragon seemed to grin at this. It could already imagine what was going through everyone's heads: <em>first an eclipse, now a <em>dragon_? Just what the hell is going on?_

The black fog rolled over everyone present and the next thing they knew, they were in complete darkness and in the company of thousands of hungry Darklings. The dragon flew on ahead and spotted another battle taking place. It decided that it wanted its share of the killing and it swooped down. Everyone fled like a stampede as the dragon opened its mouth and breathed a jet of black fire on them all. The fog quickly caught up with its leader and proceeded to swallow the burning bodies of the shinobi.

The dragon could feel multiple surges of power flow through it as the Darklings ate the hearts of hundreds of victims. Its eyes turned from a dull orange to a bright red and it continued its search for that one ninja.

Up ahead, it could see the familiar golden glow that belonged to Naruto, as well as a familiar presence. It didn't take it long to see that it was the EightTails's jinchuriki that it had failed to capture days ago. Before its eyes, the jinchuriki quickly shape-shifted into a giant bull with eight octopus tentacles and two large humanoid arms. Naruto stood on top of its head, staring at the dragon with a look of disbelief on his face. The beast glared at the dragon in the sky and roared. The dragon roared back, accepting its challenge.

At the dragon's unspoken command, the fog branched off into two parts and continued to move until it had formed a large ring around the two jinchuriki. The EightTails formed a large ball of energy at its mouth and fired it at the dragon. The dragon easily dodged this and retaliated by breathing a stream of black fire at it. Just as the fire was about to make contact with the beast's flesh, Naruto jumped up with a shadow clone at his side and they both threw a large blue shuriken at the dragons' mouth.

The dragon flew back up and coughed in pain from that last attack. It had looked like a shuriken, yet it also seemed similar to Naruto's Rasengan. It glared back down at its opponents and decided to use another tactic.

A dark purple shroud surrounded the dragon and familiar looking armor materialized out of it, along with a large purple crossbow that sat between its wings. The face of the Susano'o glowered at the beast below it and it reached one hand out to draw a bolt. The tip was ignited by a black flame and the bolt was fired right at the EightTails. It slammed the bolt aside using one of its tentacles, but though the main body was shielded from harm, the tentacle itself was pierced and ignited.

The beast lowered its head and suddenly threw it back up into the air. At that moment, Naruto jumped off its head and several shadow clones appeared at his side. While they were ascending towards the dragon, they each formed a large Rasengan in their hands. All the dragon had to do was flap its wings and his enemies were blown back to earth. They were all about to crash on the ground when the EightTails caught them with a tentacle. The clones vanished in several puffs of smoke and the real Naruto ran up the tentacle and jumped back on top of the beast's head.

The dragon swooped down towards the beast once more. The EightTails charged another ball of energy at its mouth and it fired multiple shots at its incoming opponent. A round shield appeared out of the purple shroud that surrounded the dragon and it blocked the attacks without much effort. The dragon breathed more black fire and the beast was soon covered in flames. When the dragon was close enough, the EightTails pulled back its arm and punched the dragon with incredible speed.

Though the dragon was unharmed, the impact still sent it flying back. It quickly regained its balance in the air and it roared angrily at its opponent. The beast continued to fire more energy bombs at the dragon, and the Susano'o countered by firing bolts through them. They flew with such force that not only did they pierce the shots, but they also continued through to meet the EightTails. The beast dropped to its hands and ducked, but the bolts still grazed its back. With its life being eaten away by the black flames, it knew it had to finish off the dragon before it burned to death.

The EightTails roared and charged forward. To the dragon's surprise, it managed to jump up in the air and fire a giant energy shot at the same time Naruto threw another blue shuriken in its face. The resulting explosion was huge and it blew the dragon further up into the air, yet the Susano'o still shielded it from harm.

**You can do more than this. Let it all out!**

From the earth, a large geyser of black liquid shot out at the EightTails. It branched off into hundreds of arms with claws and they all grabbed onto some part of the beast. As it fell back to the earth, it struggled and tore away the arms, but more geysers of black arms only rose up to grab it.

The EightTails finally landed with a loud 'crash'. Thousands of arms shot out of the ground and started to pin the beast down. It tore many of them off of it, but with each arm that was torn off, twenty more came to replace it. Being swamped by a now merging pool of darkness, the beast yelled, "Naruto! Get out of here, fool ya fool!"

"What?" Naruto exclaimed as he also tried to fight off the arms. "There's no way I'm leaving you, Octopops!"

"Don't go cryin' just cuz I'm dyin'! You still have a dragon that needs a whackin', fool ya fool!"

With one free tentacle, the EightTails grabbed Naruto and threw him far away from the arms. The dragon could have had the arms rip Naruto to shreds, but it wanted a somewhat proper fight with this one idiot ninja. Before the EightTails was completely suffocated by the darkness, it cried out, "Don't let us down, ya fool!*"

The dark mass completely covered the beast and it quickly shrank into a large puddle. The puddle sank into the ground, leaving a dark-skinned human corpse behind. Naruto, who had somehow managed to land on his feet after being thrown hundreds of yards away, ran over to the corpse's side and cried out, "Octopops!"

Just before he reached it, however, a single black arm shot out of the ground, grabbed the corpse, and threw it straight up into the air. The dragon swooped down, snatched the corpse midair with its jaws, and ate it in one gulp. It flew back up into the air and circled his enemy. From the ground, Naruto glared up at the dragon and shouted, "Sasuke! Come down here and fight me!"

The Susano'o vanished and the dragon made a nosedive. Its form turned into fog and waves of it were quickly being blown away from the rush of the descent. Just as it was about to slam into the ground, the last of the fog vanished and Sasuke landed on his feet. With an expressionless look on his face, he softly said, "So it finally comes down to this."

"Sasuke…" Naruto lowered his head and clenched his fists. "Why are you doing all of this? Do you really have to destroy the Leaf just so you could avenge your family?"

"You wouldn't understand; you have no family."

"I do!" Naruto snapped his head up and there were tears in his eyes. "I've told you, you're my friend, and that makes you a part of _my_ family!"

"What the hell makes you think that I'm still your friend?" Sasuke asked bitterly.

"Friends don't let friends fall to the Darkness! You called me your light in the darkness, didn't you? If I can't save you from it, then at least I can stop you from destroying everything!"

"Save me? _Stop_ me?" Sasuke laughed at this. "Idiot, I can't be saved or stopped, not by you, not by anyone. You know why you can't save me from the Darkness, Naruto? It's because I _am_ the Darkness!" His eyes sparkled with insanity. Darkness armor covered his body and he beckoned to his enemy with one hand, saying, "Come, Naruto, come so that I can finally rip your heart out!"

"That's not going to happen!" The golden glow that surrounded Naruto shone brilliantly and he charged forward.

* * *

><p><strong>Uh oh, Sasuke has taken the Darkness to the next level. Next time, the final battle begins, and only one will make it out alive. This is one battle that will be described in detail. As of right now, there are only two chapters left: the battle and the aftermath. Two more chapters and the story will be finished (unbelievable, isn't it?).<strong>

***= I can't quite get B's speech pattern down, so I hope I did fine with his dialogue.**

"Oh come on! Shuichi (Madara) couldn't have died _that_ easily!" **Being eaten from the inside was the only thing I could think of that would kill him.**

"Whaaaat? Sasuke moved the moon to cause an eclipse? Sasuke turned into a _dragon_? Okay, now this is just getting ridiculous!" **The moon has a shadow, so why can't the Darkness do it? Also, at one moment when Jackie made an appearance in the original "Witchblade" comics, he turned into a dragon so that he could fight against a horde of Angelus forces.**

**Well, fellow readers, I did my best to write a battle scene in this chapter, and as I said earlier, I will write another one in the next chapter. Wish me luck!**


	23. Final Chapter:  Darkness Eternal

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kishimoto-san's "Naruto" or Top Cow's "The Darkness". Since this is the **_**final chapter**_**, I might as well state this disclaimer normally.**

"Final chapter? I thought you said that there were going to be_ two_ chapters left!" **I changed my mind at the last minute. I thought I might as well combine both the fight and the aftermath into one chapter, since the battle itself is short.**

"_**And that was the end of the line." **_**Jackie Estacado, **_**"The Darkness" **_**(the video game).**

* * *

><p>Final Chapter: Darkness Eternal<p>

Naruto summoned two shadow clones and they formed two Rasengan* between their hands. Both clones then vanished, leaving the real Naruto with a Rasengan in each hand. All of this happened within a second, and even with his Sharingan activated, Sasuke could not keep track of his opponent's movements. Both Rasengan hit his chest and he was blown back several yards.

Sasuke was shocked. Naruto was so fast, he almost looked like a yellow blur. Not only did he manage to hit Sasuke, but the light of the Rasengan managed to penetrate through his Darkness armor. There was a hole in his chest that exposed his ribs and lungs to the open air. Before he could use the Darkness to heal his wound, however, a long arm emerged from the golden glow that surrounded Naruto, stretched, and snatched him up in the air.

As the arm slammed him down back to the earth, Sasuke manifested his Susano'o, protecting him from further harm. Its sword swung at Naruto, but though he managed to dodge it, he was forced to retract his chakra arm. Protected by the Susano'o's shield, Sasuke used this opportunity to heal himself. Dark fog caressed his wound and skin grew back over the hole.

Both Sasuke and Naruto assessed the situation before them and did nothing for around ten seconds. Sasuke knew that as long as that golden glow surrounded Naruto, he would not be able to effectively attack or defend with the Darkness. He could use his own abilities, but although his eyes would not hurt due to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, he could still feel the Susano'o eating away at his chakra. Then again, with his Sharingan, he could see that even though Naruto had an incredible amount of chakra, it was also quickly being drained. Sasuke knew that he would have to wait until that golden glow, whatever jutsu it was, vanished before he could use the Darkness.

Sasuke thought he might as well intimidate Naruto so that he could bide for a little more time to think of a strategy. He asked, "Do you know what I have accomplished with the Darkness? You know Madara? I killed him. You see that eclipse in the sky? I caused it. Do you know what happened to some of those armies of shinobi? I burned them all to death and ate their hearts. Face it, Naruto, you're no match for me."

Naruto's eyes widened with each revelation Sasuke had said to him. Despite what he heard, however, he asked, "If you're so powerful, then why don't you go ahead and kill me?"

"Only because you're glowing like a firefly, but how long can you keep that chakra shroud up?"

Instead of answering, Naruto formed a giant Rasengan in his hand and charged forward. Fast as he was, though, the Susano'o still blocked him with its shield. Deciding to take advantage of the Rasengan's wind nature, Sasuke made several hand signs and blew a large fireball at Naruto. Naruto caught fire and was forced to jump back, though the wind from the Rasengan fueled the flames. Not pausing in his attacks, Sasuke glared at his opponent and added the flames of the Amaterasu to the inferno.

Suddenly, all the flames were blown outward and Naruto's chakra cloak had vanished. Sasuke was stunned to find that there were no burns on his skin. The Susano'o swung its sword at Naruto, but the cloak reappeared and he dodged the attack in a flash. Sasuke slammed his hands to the ground and sent a Chidori stream across the ground. Seeing this coming, Naruto jumped into the air, reached out towards the Susano'o with a chakra arm, and grabbed onto the rim of its shield. It pulled Naruto forward as he formed another large Rasengan in his hand.

The attack struck the shield and, once again, no harm was done. Sasuke fixed his eyes on Naruto once more and set him on fire again with the Amaterasu. The chakra arm released its grip on the shield and Naruto jumped back again. Once more, the flames exploded outwards and the shroud was gone. This time, however, a demonic snake rose out of the ground next to Naruto and latched its jaws onto his leg. Giving a short cry of pain and surprise, he stomped on the snake's body and the shroud returned. Upon seeing the light up close, the snake hissed in pain and retreated back into the ground.

Pain shot up Naruto's leg and settled into his abdomen, right underneath the NineTails's seal. He could feel his chakra dropping at an alarmingly fast rate and he was forced to drop the chakra shroud. In his head, he could hear the Kyubi cursing at this predicament.

**DAMN DARKNESS! IT'S EATING MY CHAKRA! IT'S EATING-!**

The Kyubi's words abruptly stopped, and Naruto could no longer sense his presence inside him. He gritted his teeth at Sasuke and demanded, "What did you do to me? What did you do to the NineTails?"

"You really don't know?" Sasuke asked as the Susano'o vanished and Darkness armor covered his body. "You were always so slow, Naruto." He willed the Darkness to enter his sword and its blade turned pitch black.

It all happened too fast for Naruto. In a black blur, Sasuke came at him and sliced at him with his sword over and over again. Dozens of cuts appeared on his body and the blood seemed to spray out of them. One second after the cuts were made, he felt the blade slice through his wrists and ankles. He toppled over backwards and stared at the white ring in the sky. His view was quickly obstructed by Sasuke, who was standing over his body.

Sasuke stared in satisfaction at his handiwork. With the chakra shroud gone, he was able to bring Naruto to the borderline edge of death. His hands were gone, so he could no longer perform any jutsu. His feet were gone, so he could no longer run. All Naruto could do was lay on the ground in the middle of an ever growing puddle of his own blood. His heart was already starting to slow down and the life was leaving his body. In his dull eyes, tears welled up. Was this from the pain, or from the realization that he couldn't stop his friend? Sasuke figured it must be from the pain. After all, how could Naruto still cry for a monster like him?

"I told you," Sasuke said arrogantly, "you cannot win against the Darkness."

"S-S-Sas…uke…" Naruto coughed up blood in a hacking fit.

Sasuke raised his sword into the air, ready to do the finishing blow. Looking at Naruto's sorry state, he now hesitated. After all that he had done to him, could he really finish him off? Could he really kill the one he had once considered to be his best friend? He realized that he was experiencing the same hesitation from three years ago, back at the Final Valley. It was also the same hesitation from weeks ago, back at Orochimaru's hideout.

**Don't hesitate! Kill him now!**

"Naruto…" Sasuke lowered his sword. Even if he didn't finish Naruto off, he would still die of blood loss. Should he let him suffer to the very end, or should he go ahead and put him out of his misery? Should he even _let_ him die?

**He and everyone else in your village are descended from the Senju. They all hate you. They all hate the Uchiha. They all wanted you and your clan to die!**

_No, _Sasuke thought to the Darkness, _not Naruto._

**KILL HIM! !**

Hatred suddenly flooded Sasuke's mind. What was he thinking? Naruto was the only one who stood in his way, so why was he hesitating now? He raised his sword up once again. He wanted that idiot in orange to die, and he wanted him to die _now_. Without any more hesitation, Sasuke plunged his sword into his friend's chest, right into his heart.

With that final strike, the last of Naruto's life had finally left his body and his heart ceased to beat. Sasuke released his grip on his sword, leaving it embedded in his old friend's chest. Sasuke's eyes widened and a demented grin spread across his face.

**Now you're mine! Mine!**

Dark fog completely engulfed Sasuke's body, but he didn't care. He could feel the Darkness invade his very being, and he did nothing to stop it. For all he cared, he now knew that he was unstoppable.

* * *

><p>With the eclipse present, the streetlights in the Leaf had to be turned on and everyone was advised not to look at the ring in the sky when they go outside. In the shadows of the village's power station, tiny Darklings were already gnawing at the many wires and cables that cluttered the floor and insides of the machines. Within a minute, the cables were chewed through, and all power was out in the Leaf. Shortly after the power went out, everyone present could hear a roar of something that unnervingly sounded like a dragon.<p>

At the gates of the village, the shinobi that were on guard duty spotted what looked like black fog rolling rapidly towards their direction. One ninja took out a pair of binoculars and, looking through them, he could make out the outlines of countless monsters. The roar came again and the ninja lifted his head up slightly. Still looking through the binoculars, he saw that a large, four-winged dragon was flying towards the direction of the Leaf as well.

"Oh shit…" The binoculars slipped from the ninja's grasp.

No one had to send word to the other shinobi to tell them what was coming. All forces were quickly assembled, but they didn't have the time to escort the civilians to safety, as the dragon and the fog had already both arrived. All fighting combatants braced themselves, but they were never really prepared for what happened next.

Darklings of all kinds, shapes, and sizes jumped out at everyone, their fangs and claws tearing out the throats of those unfortunate enough to be close to them. Numerous screams and gargled cries filled the air of the once peaceful village. Darklings flooded the streets, the houses, and even in every nook and cranny present.

As the horde of Darklings swarmed everyone, the dragon breathed black fire on all the buildings. It landed on top of the Hokage's office and it observed all the damage that was being done. It saw that some ninja had managed to flee its minions, and they were heading towards it. It jumped, hovered over the roof for a few seconds, and landed in front of its prey.

No matter what these ninja tried, none of their attacks could harm the dragon. It breathed fire on them and they quickly perished. The black dragon's form dissolved, and in its place, Sasuke stood. As Darkness armor covered his body, he figured that he wanted to see his victims suffer up close.

As he killed each individual, whether it was man, woman, or child, Sasuke did not look at their faces. Instead, he only bothered to notice their spilt blood and torn hearts. As he killed alongside the Darklings, he only felt a sick satisfaction from the horrific acts he was doing, but even then, he wanted more. No, as long as the Senju and their allies existed, he would never be completely satisfied.

* * *

><p><em>In a dark void, an eight-year old Sasuke was crying. He was once again in the clutches of the monster that looked like Sasuke. All the while, a third Sasuke was watching the scene before him.<em>

**"I win again." **_The monster said as it squeezed the life out of the little boy. _**"No matter how many times I do this, I will always win."**

_"No!" The little boy wheezed. He turned his head to Sasuke and he croaked, "It's…your turn…now. Please…save…"_

_The boy suddenly vanished without a trace. The monster looked at Sasuke, laughed, then vanished as well. Sasuke dropped to his knees in despair. What had he done? He had killed hundreds of people, including his best friend! Why did he do it? _

_Looking back at all that he had done, he realized that he had never acted like himself. The hatred and malice that had once clouded his heart and mind were now absent. Though he said he was in control the whole time, in reality, the Darkness had been pulling his strings since the day it awoke on his sixteenth birthday. The only person that kept him human was Naruto, and he had killed him! With his light gone, he no longer had the power, or the will, to fight back against the Darkness._

_"No." A familiar voice spoke up. "The light never dies."_

_A brilliant flash of white engulfed Sasuke. The next thing he knew, he was outside of the Ninja Academy in the Leaf. The only other person present was Naruto, who was sitting on a small swing that hung from the limb of a nearby tree. He turned his head to look at Sasuke and said, "You're the idiot, Sasuke. What makes you think I'm gone for good?"_

_Sasuke's eyes widened. He asked, "How-?"_

_"They said that I only had a few minutes to say my final words to you. After that, I'm going to see Pervy Sage and everyone who died in this stupid war."_

_"They? Who's-?"_

_"I dunno." Naruto interrupted as he stood up. "Some higher power, I guess, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that the Darkness hasn't really won. If it had, then we wouldn't be talking right now."_

_"Naruto…" Sasuke lowered his head and tears dripped out of his eyes. "Naruto…I'm so sorry…I don't know why I-."_

_He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and he lifted his head up to see Naruto's smiling face. Naruto said, "Of course I forgive you, Sasuke."_

_"But I killed you! How can you forgive me for doing such a thing?"_

_"Well, I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't forgive you, but Sasuke, listen: you can still fight the Darkness. You can stop it from killing more people."_

_"But…" Sasuke failed to notice that he had turned into his eight-year old self. He shook his head and said, "I can't…it's too powerful."_

_"Are you going to give up _that_ easily? That's not the Sasuke I know."_

_Without any warning, Naruto had also turned into his own eight-year old self. He said, "Don't sweat it! I'll always be with you, right here." He placed his hand over his heart. "As long as you don't forget me, your light will never die! Now," he removed his hand from Sasuke's shoulder, "are you ready to fight the Darkness?"_

_Sasuke wiped the tears away from his eyes and he felt newfound courage and determination flow through him. He nodded and said, "Yeah."_

_"I know you can do it." Naruto gave his signature goofy grin. He held out two fingers and said, "Let's meet again soon."_

_Sasuke reached forward with two of his fingers and wrapped them around Naruto's. For once in a long time, he gave a kind, genuine smile. They both shook their hands and Sasuke said, "See you…Naruto."_

* * *

><p>Sasuke stood in the middle of the burning ruins of the Leaf. He had killed everyone in the village and ate their hearts, and now the Darklings were scavenging the ruins for their fresh kill. Somewhere inside him, he sensed that something was wrong. To his irritation, he realized that his 'self' had escaped the Darkness's embrace and it was trying to talk some sense into him.<p>

Even after he had destroyed the Leaf around a dozen times, his 'self' would not give up.

**Stubborn brat! Why won't you give up?**

_I won't! I'm going to save you, Sasuke!_

**You've tried many times before, and you have yet to succeed.**

_Then I'll just have to try harder!_

Dark fog surrounded Sasuke's body and he slowly sank into the earth.

**I have all eternity to torture you. You may think you can save Sasuke, but he will only listen to me.**

In the black void, Sasuke spotted a familiar looking boy around thirteen years old. Sasuke's words were true: he could do this one action over and over again for all eternity. He would always go back and force his 'self' to watch Sasuke succumb to the Darkness.

He approached the boy and he looked up. He tried to look brave, but Sasuke knew that deep down, he was scared. At this moment, like all the other moments from the past and in the future, he would make the offer that would change the boy's life forever, and he knew that he would accept it.

After all, he and the Darkness were one, and they would never be separated from each other.

"Who are you?" The boy asked. "_What_ are you?"

Forced to watch the events unfold through Sasuke's eyes, his younger self vowed that this time around, he would stop himself from giving in to the Darkness.

THE END

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, I am officially done with "Darkness Eternal"! As for what story I'll be working on next, well, I have to look through all the possible ideas that I have out and pick one.<strong>

***= "Rasengan", plural, sounds better to me than "Rasengans".**

"I don't understand the last chapter! Can you explain it to me?" **It's one of those stories where you have to figure it out on your own. It wouldn't be as satisfying if I gave you all the answers.**

**So, there are some people I like to thank. I want thank my dad for listening to this tragic piece chapter by chapter before I sent them out. I want to thank PastaSentient for being my first reviewer ever. I want to thank EVA-Saiyajin and Takai (Why don't you get an account?) for the positive reviews throughout the whole story.**

**Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!**


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